The Prize for the most Indecisive Traveller

[zanzibar138]

I feel the same way about our trip! It's all happening a bit too quickly for my liking - at this rate we'll be there in about a month

I think yours is looking pretty good though. And I agree about spending time in the lazy river with DS - I think I'd choose that too

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Great plans. Good on you for having a mother and son morning so that your MiL can have her own mother and son morning.

DH is really excited about visiting Pearl Harbor and I know he will enjoy it more without DS hanging around him becoming bored and restless. If DS was a bit older I'd probably take him for educational value, but at present I think it would all go over the top of his head.

Besides, Aulani itself is the main reason I wanted to visit Hawaii in the first place. We have less than 3 full days there, so I want to make the most of it. I've decided we won't even hire a car as I'd rather not feel compelled to use it to go offsite for meals and attractions. I can't wait to enjoy Hawaii Disney-style.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

I feel the same way about our trip! It's all happening a bit too quickly for my liking - at this rate we'll be there in about a month I think yours is looking pretty good though. And I agree about spending time in the lazy river with DS - I think I'd choose that too

It's funny. About this time last year, I felt agitated as the build up to my WDW trip was going too slow. This year I've found myself wishing time would stop going so fast. More than ever over the last few months I've started noticing things around the house that are getting old and need replacing. Not to mention the fact that our zoom camera decided to stop working last week and now needs replacing. I kind of feel like I need 3 or 4 months of not putting money towards travel so I can start putting money towards more practical stuff. I almost can't believe that someone as travel-obsessed as me has just said that - I must be coming down with something.

I'm pleased I'm not the only one who thinks a lazy river sounds just as tempting (if not more so) than an important historic monument. I almost feel a bit guilty not taking the opportunity to go see Pearl Harbour while we're so close.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Just dropping in to say Hi and catch up with all the goss. Your plans are all looking good including the cruise late in the year, and relaxing at Aulani at the end of the US trip sounds wonderful.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Just dropping in to say Hi and catch up with all the goss. Your plans are all looking good including the cruise late in the year, and relaxing at Aulani at the end of the US trip sounds wonderful.

Hi Wendy. I really enjoyed reading the update to your plans. It looks like we both have exciting trips to look forward to : thumbsup2

 

[WanderlustNZ]

I feel like I haven't really been on the DIS much over the last few weeks and there are so many posts and TRs that I need to catch up on.

Life is moving along really well at present. I feel like I'm busy, busy, busy, but in a good way. Between a new exciting project I've taken on at work, new winter sports practices for my son, saving money, and my latest attempt at getting healthy, the days have just been rushing by.

In trip related news: it was always agreed that my mother in law would need to wait for her yearly bonus before paying her share of the trip. That day was to today, and with a nice lump sum appearing in my bank account it seemed a great time to make more bookings. So tonight I ticked off the Teton Science School Wildlife Tour, Aulani Airport transfers, and the Bar T 5 Covered Wagon Cookout.
http://www.tetonscience.org/index.cfm?id=expeditions_vehicles_amenities
https://www.bart5.com/bar-t-5,_inc_-_covrd_wgn_ckout_home_page_009.htm

The last major expense is car hire, but after an hour or so of researching cars tonight I got a bit bored. I might leave that booking another few weeks or so.

 

[zanzibar138]

Gotta love a nice cash injection to the holiday fund

 

[PrincessInOz]

Excellent! Hope you get to book those activities soon.


Yes, car hire. Not fun....especially when the price can fluctuate!

 

[WanderlustNZ]

I just saw my ticker and it's exactly 4 months now until my trip. I can't believe how close it is.

Not much has changed over the last week or so, however I have wasted many hours researching and trying to book car hire. A couple of times I've got through the whole booking process with Hertz only to be told right before confirmation that there has been an 'error' with my booking.

I think I am trying to be too smart for my own good. My Visa insurance doesn't cover me fully in the case of a motor vehicle accident. Alamo and Hertz put together some pretty good packages for overseas customers that include a Theft and damage waver (CDW) and third party cover (SLI), so I have decided to go with one them.

I've been playing around trying to combine one of these insurance packages with a promo code and twice with Hertz I think I may have tricked the computer into offering a deal it shouldn't have (only to be told after adding all my details that the offer can't be processed).

So after a few hours of getting nowhere, I threw in the towel and decided to put the car booking off for a bit longer.

In other news, I have had WDW and DCL on my mind quite a bit lately as my sister has been coming to me for advice on a trip she wants to do in 2016. It's making me so desperately want to go back ....

 

[zanzibar138]

One trip at a time Wanderlust... though I know I can't talk

I have also been procrastinating with car hire. Not sure why, it's just not an exciting thing to book lol!

 

[WanderlustNZ]

One trip at a time Wanderlust...

Oh how I wish I could convince my brain of that. I'm always dreaming of the next trip, or the trip after that, or the trip after that ...

I have pretty much resigned myself to no overseas trips during 2015 - there are too many practical expenses that need to be addressed. But this doesn't stop me from daydreaming about what I want to do in 2016.

I agree about car hire, it's not very exciting.

 

[zanzibar138]

Oh how I wish I could convince my brain of that. I'm always dreaming of the next trip, or the trip after that, or the trip after that ...

I really can't say anything Apart from my RunDisney trip, I'm also planning what to do with our flights to Bangkok, we have a wedding to go to in Perth in October, and somewhere in there we have to fit in a mini break to do a train ride that SIL got us for Christmas. Then there's next year... anniversary trip in February, then SDL when that opens. And 2016 we're planning to go to Europe...



I find it takes away the sting of returning from a holiday when you have the next one ready to go

But I think you'll have a better time at DLR if you can push thoughts of WDW out of your mind temporarily

 

[WanderlustNZ]

I really can't say anything Apart from my RunDisney trip, I'm also planning what to do with our flights to Bangkok, we have a wedding to go to in Perth in October, and somewhere in there we have to fit in a mini break to do a train ride that SIL got us for Christmas. Then there's next year... anniversary trip in February, then SDL when that opens. And 2016 we're planning to go to Europe... I find it takes away the sting of returning from a holiday when you have the next one ready to go But I think you'll have a better time at DLR if you can push thoughts of WDW out of your mind temporarily

Wow, it sounds like you have the next two years pretty much mapped out.

I find it bitter-sweet planning so many trips in my head. On one hand it helps with post-holiday blues, but on the other hand I find myself wishing time away and perhaps not fully living in the moment as well as I should be.

Where is your Feb anniversary trip going to be to?

 

[zanzibar138]

Wow, it sounds like you have the next two years pretty much mapped out.

I find it bitter-sweet planning so many trips in my head. On one hand it helps with post-holiday blues, but on the other hand I find myself wishing time away and perhaps not fully living in the moment as well as I should be.

Where is your Feb anniversary trip going to be to?

Yes that's true. Although planning all our trips kind of together means we can plan out things like how to maintain our airline status and make the best use of points etc.

We'll be going back to Vietnam for our anniversary I can't deny that it is my favourite non-Disney destination! It will only be a short one this time, and the only thing we've really decided is that we'll spend some more time in Hoi An. It would be nice to be able to fit somewhere new into the equation too though.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Yes that's true. Although planning all our trips kind of together means we can plan out things like how to maintain our airline status and make the best use of points etc. We'll be going back to Vietnam for our anniversary I can't deny that it is my favourite non-Disney destination! It will only be a short one this time, and the only thing we've really decided is that we'll spend some more time in Hoi An. It would be nice to be able to fit somewhere new into the equation too though.

Your love for Vietnam definitely boosts my want to visit one day.

I wish I understood the whole airline points thing a bit better. However, I don't think it's as easy to achieve here in NZ where the rewards programmes are lousy.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

I just booked and paid for car hire and are feeling quite good about the deal I just found. In fact I'm feeling a bit too good and are worried that the deal will turn out to be too good to be true. I read the T&Cs twice and all looks good, so fingers crossed everything turns out okay.

I have booked a Standard size SUV (Hyundai Santa Fe or similar) with all necessary insurances (CDW and Theft with zero excess and SLI) with Alamo.

I booked through Ebookers (British version of Orbitz) after getting an email to say there is 10% of worldwide car hire when using their App. Given that the added insurances are so costly, the cheapest I could find the same sized car elsewhere was about NZ$90 per day. But going through Ebookers I got it for less than NZ$50 p/d. Very happy with that.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Good going! Must keep an eye on that although we often get a good deal associated with DH work.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Good work!

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Thanks ladies. I really don't enjoy the car hire part of booking a trip because I spend ages worrying myself over practical stuff like insurances, cargo space, legroom, and fuel efficiency.
I'm not confident I've ticked off the latter (no SUV with 4 people in it and a heap of luggage is ever going to be very fuel efficient), but I'm still feeling happy with what I got.

 

[zanzibar138]

Good work

That's the type of car I think we've decided on. We were a bit the same wondering about cargo and fuel efficiency. Dad isn't too worried because he says fuel isn't as expensive in the US - he even kind of laughed when I brought it up as a concern! So if it does turn out to be expensive, he can cover our costs

I haven't managed to find a great deal yet though. Might have to check out your website. Although I don't really use apps, so I wouldn't get the extra 10% discount.

We have rental car excess etc as part of our travel insurance, so won't have to worry about that at least.