TR Oct/Nov 2012- Cowboys, casinos and pixie dust OH MY!

[frangipanisam]

I thought that I'd put up the current itinerary that we've (I've lol) put together for our trip, with the hotels that have been suggested to us and if anyone has any suggestions to make (ie splitting days up more, a different hotel to look at ect) I'd love to know

Background
We have DSam 1 (ME!) , DSam 2 , DSam 3 and DBec So yep three of us share the same first name, what are the chances in a class of 30?

This trip is a big end of uni/tafe/high school trip for us We all completed our HSC's and met at Tafe doing our Diploma in Children's Services. After that we decided to upgrade our qualifications to Teachers and went off to Uni We're all doing a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood and Primary) but I'm at ACU with other friends and the other 3 are at UWS

So the point of all that is that after 18 1/2 years straight of full time, formal study and then going back into primary schools to teach for the rest of our careers WE NEED A BIG TRIP!!! Esp. me because my course is longer, I crammed 18 months of Uni work into last year JUST to go to DL at Halloween/Xmas, who wouldn't

 

[frangipanisam]

Current Itinerary
Thur 18th of Oct: Fly out of SYD to LAX onto Dallas
Fri 19th Oct: Meeting DSam 2's penpal Macee, State Fair of Texas, out country dancing with Macee
Sat 20th Oct: Shopping (Grapevine outlets plus ??) I get to buy beautiful leather cowboy boots
Sun 21st Oct: Breakfast, pack up, fly to Las Vegas in the morning, explore The Strip, see a show

Mon 22nd Oct: Vegas?
Tue 23rd Oct: Outlet shopping
Wed 24th Oct: Vegas?
Thur 25th Oct: Vegas? Fly to San Francisco in the arvo

Fri 26th Oct: Have a picnic at the park opposite the Painted Lady house (to relive Full House memories) and a Starlines tours with pick up to the Winchester House in San Jose
Sat 27th Oct: Fisherman's wharf, Alcatraz tour, possibly Golden Gate tour?
Sun 28th Oct: Chinatown, Union Square basically a shopping day

Mon 29th Oct: Fly to LA, straight to Anaheim bit of local shopping and then fingers crossed that Mickey's Trick or Treat party is on at DL this night
Tues 30th Oct: DL day #1 using Magic Morning, see DL done up for Halloween and switching to DCA when MTTP starts to catch World of Colour

Wed 31st Oct: Switch to Hollywood hotel, do a half day at Universal Studios, find something to do at night?
Thur 1st Nov: Full day around Hollywood using GO LA pass (Warner bros VIP tour, homes tour, Hollywood museum, Madame Tussades, walk of fame, Chinese theatre)
Fri 2nd Nov: Full day at Universal Studios having dinner at Hard Rock at City Walk
Sat 3rd Nov: Full day of shopping at the Beverly Center, also hitting Rodeo Dr and a shop called It's a Wrap
Sun 4th Nov: Daylight savings is due to end, switch back to Anaheim

Mon 5th Nov: Sea World tour with pick up for DSam 1 & DBac (DSam 2 & 3 are going to NYC for 5 days, 5th to 9th of Nov)
Tue 6th Nov: Relax day after commute to San Diego, bit of shopping, hotel pool ect
Wed 7th Nov: DL/DCA #2 full day
Thur 8th Nov: Knott's Berry Farm
Fri 9th Nov: LA Shopping extravaganza tour with hotel pick up (DSam 2 & 3 fly back to LA)

Sat 10th Nov: DCA #3 starting in DL to Mickey's Toontown madness, then off to DCA includes doing Princess Lunch in DCA and then back into DL to watch fireworks and fantasmic
Sun 11th Nov: DSam 1 & DBec going to Surf's up with Mickey breakfast, then pack up day and last minute shopping
Mon 12th Nov: DL/DCA #4 to see DL done up for Christmas, hopefully with enough time to catch the xmas parade if its started. Then back to the hotel room to get changed and refreshed for a late night flight from LA to Syd

Tue 13th Nov: Lose this day flying
Wed 14th Nov: Arrive Syd Am, go home and sleep
Thur 15th Nov: Just in time to see midnight screening of Breaking Dawn Part 2 with bestie whose not coming on trip the whole point of needing to come home late on the 12th Nov. Just so I get to see DL at Xmas and still see the last Twilight movie BEFORE the American's in saying that I was a fan of the books almost a year BEFORE the first movie came out, so I'm not a crazy teenage fan

 

[Caroline NZ]

Wow - you have a great trip planned. How fantastic that you can all go together

 

[mickeyd78]

Looks like a fantastic trip!

 

[alicia1506]

that looks like a fabulous trip. truly you've opted to pack in a lot during your time there.

we did something similar (packing in a lot) and it can be great, but also quite full on. my only recommendation... make sure you leave yourself a day or two to just sit in a hotel and veg out or something similar.

we organised our whole trip (well, i did) with no TA or other assistance and we tried to get as much bang for our buck as possible. and we did and it was amazing and the memories will always be with us, but those little time out days can sometimes be awesome for just recharging your batteries and making sure that you can all still stand each other's company

 

[aussietravellers]

Looks like an fabulous trip and how fun going with your friends.

I have to say I had a moment. When I was reading DSam 1 DSam 2 then DSam 3 (I didn't read any further and i was wracking my brain trying to work out what the DSam meant. I kept going back and rereading, thinking ok, DS is dear son/darling son, what on earth is the am for ). If I had just continued to read I would have worked out sooner that the am actually stood for Sam. Oh I'm getting old

Anyway you will have such an amazing time on your trip. Thanks for sharing

 

[frangipanisam]

Thanks everyone I've been working this out since Oct 2010 when my cousins came back from seeing DL at Halloween time and gave me the idea, so it's been changed alot, went from 16 days in California to 28 across three states four states for the 2 doing NYC (I'd prefer more Disney and do NYC another time for 2 weeks instead of 5 days)

We're still looking at doing flights with a TA and then booking everything else online ourselves, with deals like HOJO's retro rates why not? I'd pay $30 for an entertainment card to get $400 off accommodation!

we did something similar (packing in a lot) and it can be great, but also quite full on. my only recommendation... make sure you leave yourself a day or two to just sit in a hotel and veg out or something similar.

I'm trying to make sure we do that aswell as trying not to do theme parks two days in a row so we don't get too exhasted. I'm not fussed on Vegas other then outlet shopping and seeing a show so hopefully most of that part will be more relaxed, to just veg out at the pool.

What do people think of Knott's Berry Farm? Main reason I put it in is because Bec is a BIG rollercoaster fan, but I'm not lol maybe this would be a shorter day then if its mainly coasters?

I have to say I had a moment. When I was reading DSam 1 DSam 2 then DSam 3 (I didn't read any further and i was wracking my brain trying to work out what the DSam meant. I kept going back and rereading, thinking ok, DS is dear son/darling son, what on earth is the am for ). If I had just continued to read I would have worked out sooner that the am actually stood for Sam. Oh I'm getting old

Sorry! I figured it would make it easier to explain it there because of the split trip they can all be darling Sam but I'll be Disney Sam It's always funny to be out together at a party and introduce ourselves and poor Bec always gets has people say 'look I'll just call you Sam too ok?' lol

 

[aussietravellers]

I'd pay $30 for an entertainment card to get $400 off accommodation!

I'm not sure where you're from, but you could get the whole book for $50 (or I think it's $55 now). I get our local one each year. Buying it supports local charities (as that's where you buy them through in Australia), you get the card to use in the USA and you get a whole book packed with vouchers to use throughout the year (for only $20 more than you spend on the card).

They have SO many vouchers, we hardly use any compared to the size of the book, but the ones we do use pay for the book about 10 times over. We use them at local restaurants, coffee shops, the video store, subway etc. Just one restaurant we go to, the book gives us $40 off one meal, so that meal alone almost pays for the book, so it may be worth looking into the book rather than just the card off ebay and getting even more value. We love the book. You can see if your local area has one here www.entertainmentbook.com.au and then contact them to see where to buy your book (and you will be supporting a local charity too ).

 

[frangipanisam]

Thanks, I'll check that too, my high school used to sell the books as fundraising.

I was looking at the digital card for Orange County so we could use dining discounts during the 11/12 days we're in Anaheim and they also have the books discounted to $20 at the moment as well so who knows

Also considering upgrading one of the 4 day hoppers to an AP to get the HOJO's retro rates, weighing up the discounts vs extra cost at the moment. But on the DL site it says that the merchandise discounts will stop at the end of May

 

[frangipanisam]

After some more help please lovely Dis-boarders

Who has done Knott's Berry Farm and was it worth it? It's the only Anaheim day I'm not 100% sure about...

I already have three low-key days for transfering hotels, relaxing, local shopping and packing up, so if Knott's is a bit of a dud I want to look for another activity to do instead of another low key day

Also we're doing the Princess lunch at Ariel's Grotto and Surf's up with Mickey Breakfast but now I'm considering lunch or dinner at Goofy's kitchen on a relax day any excuse I tell you! Worth doing or not? On the DL subforum some people mention meeting a lot of characters that you generally don't see. Has anyone on here done it and who did you get to see?

Thanks Dis-ers

 

[aussietravellers]

After some more help please lovely Dis-boarders

Who has done Knott's Berry Farm and was it worth it? It's the only Anaheim day I'm not 100% sure about...

I already have three low-key days for transfering hotels, relaxing, local shopping and packing up, so if Knott's is a bit of a dud I want to look for another activity to do instead of another low key day

Also we're doing the Princess lunch at Ariel's Grotto and Surf's up with Mickey Breakfast but now I'm considering lunch or dinner at Goofy's kitchen on a relax day any excuse I tell you! Worth doing or not? On the DL subforum some people mention meeting a lot of characters that you generally don't see. Has anyone on here done it and who did you get to see?

Thanks Dis-ers

I haven't been to Knotts for many years so I'll let someone else answer that question.

But being the character meal addict that I am, I have done all of the character meals at DL (and WDW and DL Paris ). Goofy's Kitchen is not as good as it was years ago but its still good. I would go for the brunch over dinner. Have a look at the two menus to see what suits you as character wise it is 6 of one, half a dozen of the other. But we love the brunch menu as they have many items on the dinner menu, but also have the breakfast menu, it's yummy. As for characters, I can't remember who we saw on which visit as we go multiple times in a trip, but last trip we saw.... Baloo, Aladdin, A Penguin, Some Cat looking creature, various Princesses, Chip & Dale, Goofy, Pluto, Donald, Minnie. We used to get about 8 to 10 characters, but on our last trip, we ate at Goofy's four times (three brunches, one dinner) and we didn't see Chip and Dale on three occasions and on the others we only saw about 4 or 5 characters. We were a bit disappointed after our previous trip. The food was ok but was the best, largest, selection for brunch, if you can't find lots to eat there, then there is a problem, it really is a huge selection of food.

Minnies at the Plaza definately had the best character assortment (and the most. Our breakfast there last trip in the one meal we saw Chip, Dale, Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Captain Hook, Fairy Godmother, Rabbit, Minnie and Max. That was 10 characters in one meal! We were there on opening, so we got SO much attention, from all of them, infact it was a bit annoying as we hardly had time to eat Have photos if you want to see them. Food was average though. But if it's your relax day that probably won't suit you (unless you have longer passes, so can just pop in for breakfast.

Another good breakfast is Storytellers. The breakfast (food quality wise) is the best. Characters were good too. There was two brother bear characters, a gorilla, racoon, Chip & Dale. They have menu and buffet, so if someone in your group only wanted something small, you aren't wasting a whole buffet price, so can order off the menu and the others can have the buffet. Their buffet lunch and dinner is really good too (but no characters).

Kind of over answered your question Sorry, kind of get excited about character meals, I really do love them

 

[frangipanisam]

Thanks for all the info aussie travellers! So much to consider I'll talk it out with Bec and who knows we may end up getting 5 day hoppers and can do Minnie's breakfast then so hard to fit everything in and get in quality Disney time!

 

[frangipanisam]

Bumping this up for some assistance

We have offically booked all of our accomodation Talk about time consuming! Three and a half hours with the TA (Though we got free coffee vouchers to have a 15 min break lol) and we have booked all airport transfers and seven different hotels across four weeks!

Can the Aussie dollar just creep up back over the dollar mark pleaseeee! Now its just saving spending money for food and souvieneers, aiming for at least $5500 to be safe

Now we have our money for entry tickets for Disney, Universal ect when would people recommend buying those? Should we do those through the TA or buy online and get sent to our hotels or pick up on the day???

Also with Universal Studios are the lockers INSIDE the park or outside? I know Disney have some in the courtyard between the parks where you can put a backpack with food and drinks and not get in trouble but Universal's website doesn't show where they are located and my gf's friend had food taken off her when they tried to go in a few months ago

146 sleeps to go and only seven weeks until Uni is finished for ever!

 

[Kangarucci]

Disneyland tickets went up May 20 but some places are still selling them at the old price until they sell out. On the mousesavers site it states that arestravel are still selling at the old price.

 

[frangipanisam]

Yeah I saw that We were going to get our tickets when we booked Paradise Pier for two nights but it didn't work out that way with the TA. I'll keep an eye out for sales on the Disneyland website, we don't need ours until the 30th of October so fingers are crossed!

Anyone have an idea about where the lockers are located in Universal Studios?

 

[australiankaren]

i'm going to have to pick your brain about san fran and DL........we go in feb...are you flying from SFO to LAX or SNA??? SNA is closer to disneyland, so we are looking at that, for about $15 extra on united.

keep me posted re plans.....so do you call them 1,2 or 3..or is it sam 1 etc...confusing

 

[WAMUMOF4]

Bumping this up for some assistance

We have offically booked all of our accomodation Talk about time consuming! Three and a half hours with the TA (Though we got free coffee vouchers to have a 15 min break lol) and we have booked all airport transfers and seven different hotels across four weeks!

Can the Aussie dollar just creep up back over the dollar mark pleaseeee! Now its just saving spending money for food and souvieneers, aiming for at least $5500 to be safe

Now we have our money for entry tickets for Disney, Universal ect when would people recommend buying those? Should we do those through the TA or buy online and get sent to our hotels or pick up on the day???

Also with Universal Studios are the lockers INSIDE the park or outside? I know Disney have some in the courtyard between the parks where you can put a backpack with food and drinks and not get in trouble but Universal's website doesn't show where they are located and my gf's friend had food taken off her when they tried to go in a few months ago

146 sleeps to go and only seven weeks until Uni is finished for ever!

Sounds like a great trip you might want to look at the southern California pass since your going to Seaworld and Universal if you pick it up a universal they give you a 2nd day free then you could upgrade your ticket to 4 days at DL I guess you would have to price it out though I'm not sure how ou planned on buying the tickets.

http://www.universalstudioshollywood.com/ticket_california_citypass.html

 

[frangipanisam]

i'm going to have to pick your brain about san fran and DL........we go in feb...are you flying from SFO to LAX or SNA??? SNA is closer to disneyland, so we are looking at that, for about $15 extra on united.

keep me posted re plans.....so do you call them 1,2 or 3..or is it sam 1 etc...confusing

Defiantly! I'm getting very excited, first Disney trip ever I'll do a trip report when I get back with all the details and my opinion of each place.

I originally planned to fly SFO to SNA also because it was $9 cheaper with South West airlines but when we discussed it with our TA he was having trouble booking our airport transfers so we went with SFO to LAX which is now the same price anyway at $91. I wasn't too fussed because we fly in at midday and it eats up some time before we can check in

That being said we're scardy cats and wanted our transfers prebooked but I guess a taxi from SNA to Disney wouldn't be too bad cost wise

Our poor TA was getting so confused with all of us, two of us are Sam W so we can't even do initials! We call each other by our nicknames based on our last names so theres Willy, Woody and Kiddy I'm Willy

Thanks WAMUMOF4 we did originally plan to get those and upgrade but we want a second day at Universal for free which we can get buying that ticket online separately. Problem with buying the CityPass with the second day free is that we are doing Disney first and to get the free day you need to redeem at Universal first. Plus we're buying our Sea World tickets with Anaheim pick up & drop off.

Thanks for the help though, I'm might look into price comparing them again after the price hike at Disney and see if its worth getting and upgrading Disney. I need something to do at work

 

[australiankaren]

Defiantly! I'm getting very excited, first Disney trip ever I'll do a trip report when I get back with all the details and my opinion of each place.

I originally planned to fly SFO to SNA also because it was $9 cheaper with South West airlines but when we discussed it with our TA he was having trouble booking our airport transfers so we went with SFO to LAX which is now the same price anyway at $91. I wasn't too fussed because we fly in at midday and it eats up some time before we can check in

That being said we're scardy cats and wanted our transfers prebooked but I guess a taxi from SNA to Disney wouldn't be too bad cost wise

Our poor TA was getting so confused with all of us, two of us are Sam W so we can't even do initials! We call each other by our nicknames based on our last names so theres Willy, Woody and Kiddy I'm Willy

Thanks WAMUMOF4 we did originally plan to get those and upgrade but we want a second day at Universal for free which we can get buying that ticket online separately. Problem with buying the CityPass with the second day free is that we are doing Disney first and to get the free day you need to redeem at Universal first. Plus we're buying our Sea World tickets with Anaheim pick up & drop off.

Thanks for the help though, I'm might look into price comparing them again after the price hike at Disney and see if its worth getting and upgrading Disney. I need something to do at work

to frangipaniwilly.......nice

 

[frangipanisam]

When we're being naughty it can get very bad when we combine our names to make dirty sentences, especially when we add in Bec's nickname Handy

Naught naughty preschool/primary school teachers