September 2012

[shushh]

Thanks Shussh i plan on rereading your trip report very soon i just dont seem to have much motivation at the moment to plan that part of the trip yet but DH is starting to stress that i dont have anything booked yet
We will also be going to Mount Rushmore and we will be driving from Iowa. We have about 9 days to fit it all in.

Feel free to ask any questions you want. I sometimes skimp on the details. The National Parks in the US that we went to were simply stunning. So glad that we went.

Here's some photos to get you motivated! I just finished my photobook. There are about 4 pages for Yellowstone and then 1 on Mount Rushmore.
http://www.xbook.com.au/book-gallery/preview/default.php?fileID=11111519440350

 

[WAMUMOF4]

Feel free to ask any questions you want. I sometimes skimp on the details. The National Parks in the US that we went to were simply stunning. So glad that we went.

Here's some photos to get you motivated! I just finished my photobook. There are about 4 pages for Yellowstone and then 1 on Mount Rushmore.
http://www.xbook.com.au/book-gallery/preview/default.php?fileID=11111519440350

your photobook looks great Thanks for the link Shushh i loved it i have a million questions i was looking at the 3 bear lodge it is available at the moment for my dates how many nights did you stay there? If you had to replan your trip would you do it the same way what would you change?

 

[shushh]

your photobook looks great Thanks for the link Shushh i loved it i have a million questions i was looking at the 3 bear lodge it is available at the moment for my dates how many nights did you stay there? If you had to replan your trip would you do it the same way what would you change?

Thanks WAMUMOF4!

The 3 bear lodge should be available seeing as the summer is their peak season. Here's their website http://**********bearlodge.com/about/lodge/ You can check availability on the site.

We stayed there for 3 nights at one of the themed rooms. It was beautiful and extremely spacious. We got it as it fit all 7 of us in the 1 room. THe only minor thing was that it only had 1 bathroom! It worked out well as our children are young but might not be so good if you have older children? Also probably good to know that there are no lifts. So if you have rooms upstairs, the legs need to exercise! This place was recommended by Queenie and her lovely family and we were glad we stayed there.

Things I would consider doing differently:

• Go 1 or 2 weeks earlier. Because we went at the end/cusp of seasons. There were a few things we missed out on. eg round ups, ranger led tours, chuck wagon dinners (many were already closed so only limited choice), restricted choice of dude ranches, etc

• Spend more time at the dude ranch - it was amazing. The staff were wonderful and made sure we did most things but it did feel rushed. Wished we could have enjoyed it at a slower pace.

• We didn't really get to see Jackson or Cheyenne, would have liked to have another half day just to explore the town a little. We also missed out on Cody but it just didn't work with the route that we had planned.
  
• Wished we had shopped more at Montana where there was no sales tax!

• The constant move and staying at one place only for one night can be tiring. We managed in the end by packing a day pack the day before so we didin't have to unload and reload ALL the suitcases. I am not sure if there was anything we could have done about this though as we had to cover big distances to see all the things that we wanted to see. We ended up covering about 5500km.

Will come back if I think of some more!

 

[meandmygirl]

Our cruise is booked and deposit paid Trying to keep it a secret from DD6 so Mum and I are having to speak in code.

The cruise we originally wanted to go on has been charted to had to go on the following week. We are going to stay at Park Vue (at this stage) before the cruise then stay somewhere else for the last 3 nights after the cruise. Just watching flight prices at the moment.

 

[australiankaren]

Hey

So now the plans have changed again
Flying into San Fran hopefully with anz, then on to pop for 3 days, bay lake tower for 6' then 7 night cruise on freedom of the seas, then back to boardwalk for 4 nights to do the food and wine festival....then back to San Fran and then home.........
So going to get annual pass, not do disney dining this time, and hire ourselves not one but 2 clown cars....
Now have to price and book flights....maybe in January....
So the planning continues...

Sent from my new ipad

 

[Aust]

Just testing my new ticker

Which doesn't appear to be working

 

[Oz-kateer]

Hi Karen - are you thinking of taking your iPad to the USA?

Do you have one with WiFi and 3G or just WiFi?

 

[cassi8]

Hi,

We are going with my parents and my brother and his family (6 adults and 4 kids in late Sept next year. Aust I think we might be looking at the same flight although ours aren't booked yet, mum and dad are in Hawaii ATM so will be booking when they get back.

So far the plan is SYD/LAX 5 nts DLR with a day trips to seaworld and Universal
drive to Vegas and 3 nts there in the Luxor
Fly Honolulu and 3 nts in wikiki.

I'm looking forward to getting lots of tips :

 

[WAMUMOF4]

cassi8 to the disboards and Happy planning

 

[australiankaren]

Hi Karen - are you thinking of taking your iPad to the USA?

Do you have one with WiFi and 3G or just WiFi?

hi there

my new toy..yep shes coming...shes only wi fi but she'll do

trying to find flights syd- sfo/lax that arent hugely expensive is proving to be a challenge....patience......

 

[australiankaren]

hey
ok
so plans change again

• syd-lax- mco
• lax 1 night
• pop 3 nights
• blt 6 nights
• freedom of the seas 7 nights
• POR 3 nights
• la 1 night
• home

but not set in concrete....too many choices

 

[WAMUMOF4]

so yesterday DH floats the idea of going back to the USA in November for the sprintcar grandfinal in Charlotte my first response was Really that means i can see DL at Christmas time not going to repeat what he said
Then today he said about it again and i realised he was serious that if that was how his roster worked out so i suggested that maybe i should just stay there till November instead of coming home and going back

For some reason he didn't think it was a good idea and here i was envisioning myself buying an annual pass and having 2 whole months extra at DL

 

[ExcitedSam]

Sounds like a good idea to me WAMUMOF4!!!

Karen I looooove my iPad. Your Plan looks good. I hear you on too many choices! My problem is I'm not sure I will get DH to go back, he's not much of a traveller so deciding what to see is hard. Hopefully he'll catch the travel bug while we're away.

 

[cassi8]

So we are starting to think about booking flights and I have questions... DL with little kids (2 4yos and 2 babies) Dad has planned for 5 nights in DLH with one day each at Universal and Seaworld. Is 3 days going to be long enough to do both parks? Does anyone know the typical hours in late sept? If they are open later then the olds can hang with the kids while DH and I have a bit of fun

 

[WAMUMOF4]

So we are starting to think about booking flights and I have questions... DL with little kids (2 4yos and 2 babies) Dad has planned for 5 nights in DLH with one day each at Universal and Seaworld. Is 3 days going to be long enough to do both parks? Does anyone know the typical hours in late sept? If they are open later then the olds can hang with the kids while DH and I have a bit of fun

You can check what the park hours will be on the DL web site personally i dont think 3 days would be enough we had 6 and it wasn't enough but we were there in July but i guess our kids are a lot older and were able to do more things.

 

[WAMUMOF4]

DS 10 tells me this morning he thinks we should go to Disneyland and do a Disney cruise next time we go to America
I had to bite my tongue from saying wish granted and you also get a bonus day at WDW
I am really struggling to not tell them
Then he calls me into the lounge to watch an add of something he wants to go see it's the Disney live show I only asked them months ago if they wanted to go now its a change of plans Lucky for him its on his birthday and DH's fly out day so i will be getting tickets this morning.

 

[BigDisneyOE]

I go away for a month and come back and everyone's travel plans have changed about three times. For us nothing much has changed, the cruise is booked and paid (same one as meandmygirl) and has been since July, the airfares booked and paid and I'm still flip flopping over San Diego before Disneyland or the other way round. This month it's looking like Disneyland first as it's driveable but that will mean an early start on embarkation day for the cruise as we will be coming up from San Diego.

My only other news is that I've booked myself (yes that's right, nobody but me - it'll be a first) 10 days in Phuket. I'm supposed to be resting but I've already booked out four days of stuff in between writing. DH went to PNG last month by himself and the boys really adjusted well, so we are hoping they'll be okay with Mum going to Thailand. I've got free WiFi at the hotel, so I'm hoping to Skype the kids.

AustralianKaren - what time did you embark on your cruise this year?

 

[australiankaren]

ok

so my plans have change..AGAIN

am trying to tack 2 nights on the start at vegas, then 3 nights LA to try and catch a soccer game or two [for the DH].....
so that takes our annual 2 week trip to 4 weeks away....

so here it is so far....
2 nights vegas
3 nights LA
3 nights pop [deposit made]
6 nights BLT [booked]
7 nights freedom of the seas [deposit paid] junior suite
3 nights POR [deposit paid]
1 night LA

now all I have to do is :
find cheap PE airfare syd-lax,
car hire ,
buy annual tickets WDW,
dining resi's at WDW
book excursions on cruise
accom in LA,
accom and flights to vegas.

have booked LAX-MCO flight already, used flyer points

let the games begin

 

[australiankaren]

I go away for a month and come back and everyone's travel plans have changed about three times. For us nothing much has changed, the cruise is booked and paid (same one as meandmygirl) and has been since July, the airfares booked and paid and I'm still flip flopping over San Diego before Disneyland or the other way round. This month it's looking like Disneyland first as it's driveable but that will mean an early start on embarkation day for the cruise as we will be coming up from San Diego.

My only other news is that I've booked myself (yes that's right, nobody but me - it'll be a first) 10 days in Phuket. I'm supposed to be resting but I've already booked out four days of stuff in between writing. DH went to PNG last month by himself and the boys really adjusted well, so we are hoping they'll be okay with Mum going to Thailand. I've got free WiFi at the hotel, so I'm hoping to Skype the kids.

AustralianKaren - what time did you embark on your cruise this year?

hey there
we caught the LAX bus transfer at 10.30 am, and got to the port 11.30.
After checking in etc, & since we were concierge, we were first on at around 12.30 ish.....
this was the Disney wonder out of LA [mexico cruise].....

 

[BigDisneyOE]

hey there
we caught the LAX bus transfer at 10.30 am, and got to the port 11.30.
After checking in etc, & since we were concierge, we were first on at around 12.30 ish.....
this was the Disney wonder out of LA [mexico cruise].....

Thanks for the information, it helps me to see how early we have to leave a hotel/apartment. I'm thinking return the rental at Disneyland and shuttle to the port as I've heard the rental returns can be problematic on Sunday down at the Port.

Freedom of the Seas?!!! Wow, you are doing a trip report right? I'd love to see some pictures of her, she looks amazing.