Trip Report Australia 2017

[Grifdog22]

Edited by Grifdog - this is moved to a complete trip report being posted over Thanksgiving week of 2017

 

[Grifdog22]

Edited by Grifdog22. This is merged into a complete trip report being posted over Thanksgiving week 2017

 

[OhanaCuz]

That is a sweet backpack!

 

[sayhello]

Oh, yay! Glad to hear from you Grifdog22! So sad to hear about your flight woes!! But happy to hear that the trip itself is making up for it. You did the sky diving, and you survived!! And liked it!! I can hardly wait to hear all the details and see your wonderful pics of that and the rest of your trip!

Sayhello

 

[RSM]

Hey Grifdog--so sorry to hear about your "flightmare". Just horrible. We fly out tomorrow, 6/26, for our Australia ABD starting 7/2. We fly to Vancouver tomorrow, stay overnight and fly to Sydney on Tuesday. How has the weather been? Any rain? Right now, it feels like we are packing for 3 seasons. We are from the Northeast so 50-60 degrees is pretty comfortable for us. Thanks.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

What a bummer about all the flights! So glad you made it for the second day and hope the rest of your trip is more magical Can't wait to read the report!

 

[BluesTraveler]

Can't wait to read the report but sooo sorry about your flights.

 

[Cousin Orville]

Very sorry to hear about your flights. Such a nightmare. Glad to hear you were finally able to get there.
Suzamber - what a great team! I look forward to reading all about it.

 

[Grifdog22]

Edited by Grifdog 22 and moved to a complete trip report being posted over Thanksgiving 2017

 

[Grifdog22]

Edited by Grifdog 22 and moved to a complete trip report being posted Thanksgiving week 2017

 

[Grifdog22]

Edited by Grifdog 22 and moved to a complete trip report being posted Thanksgiving 2017

 

[sayhello]

Grifdog22, I'm so glad the sky diving was such a success! While I'm never likely to give it a try (jump out of a perfectly good airplane???) I like your wife's philosophy about it. That tandem master could not have been too thrilled about the ponytail in the face part...

The kayaking sounds wonderful. This trip is definitely on my list, but I still think it's going to need to wait a few years until I've retired & can spend a proper amount of time in other areas around there. But who knows?

Looking forward to more of your report!

Sayhello

 

[Cousin Orville]

Looks like everyone had an amazing time skydiving. I look forward to hearing more about the Gold Coast. That's the big new change from Tasmania. While I'm glad to have experienced Tassie, it was rather cold in the Winter especially while kayaking.

 

[Tsunami]

So sorry to hear about the start to your trip, but sounds like you and your family made the most of it despite arriving late. We are going in December and I can't wait to hear more about your adventures!

I have some specific questions about the Great Barrier Reef I hope you or someone else who has taken the trip can answer. Wondering how many fit in the helicopter, whether there is a diving option available to the Disney guests (and whether that seems worth it), how the snorkeling is, whether you felt you had adequate time, etc. I looked at the QuickSilver reviews and it seems that there are a lot of people on this excursion and since it's the only day we will have on the GBR, I want to prepare to maximize our time there.

Also, my mom called ABD to get a more detailed schedule to book things for the free time and they wouldn't even give her a general idea. I can see that things can change and they don't want to commit, and also it sounds like with the level of activity, we will need some rest, but how did you know when/where you could book your skydiving, etc.?

This will be our first ABD and we are really looking forward to it! Thanks!

 

[Grifdog22]

First, we really are working on a trip report but the jet lag, work and sorting 7000 pictures...and getting my twin Dad registered for college...a few more days and more to post


I have some specific questions about the Great Barrier Reef I hope you or someone else who has taken the trip can answer. Wondering how many fit in the helicopter, whether there is a diving option available to the Disney guests (and whether that seems worth it), how the snorkeling is, whether you felt you had adequate time, etc. I looked at the QuickSilver reviews and it seems that there are a lot of people on this excursion and since it's the only day we will have on the GBR, I want to prepare to maximize our time there.

No one in our group booked the helicopter but I understand (and defer to those who have done it) but we were told three fit comfortably but four can squeeze in. Diving is indeed available but you'll need to bring your PADI card with you and it is an extra charge. For those that don't want to get too wet the semi submersible is included and it's about a 20 minute trek. For an extra charge you can do a sea helmet so while your body gets wet your head stays inside a helmet with air lines and you sink on a platform and feed the fish. Most do snorkeling. Disney sends you out with a marine biologist for this in groups but it is still crowded here n the group. We found the snorkeling to be very good and fun and decided apart from the group was better. We estentially grabbed a lunch to hold and skipped it, to eat on the return trip to have more time in the water. We would loved to have had a lot more time on the reef, but honestly we were pretty tired just from what we did.

Also, my mom called ABD to get a more detailed schedule to book things for the free time and they wouldn't even give her a general idea. I can see that things can change and they don't want to commit, and also it sounds like with the level of activity, we will need some rest, but how did you know when/where you could book your skydiving, etc.?

We emailed our vacationista right after booking and had nine months of exchanges with her on free time, approximate times, what we could and couldn't do (such as bringing a right flashlight into the reef etc) what airport we would be flying in and out of so we could look to skydive, more to follow in the trip report. They were always responsive but sometimes took a couple of weeks since the trip was new. We were guided away from some OYO time as Disney suggested certain activities like night visits to glow worms were not as good as advertised.

Much more to follow in the trip report I promise. This is a VERY active trip. We obviously added to it as well but the changes they made were spot on. You will love this trip

 

[Tsunami]

Thank you so much. This is very helpful. I'm appreciative you are willing to share your experiences with us and wish you a quick recovery from jet lag!

I'll have a go at the Vacationista again and see if email may be preferred to a call. I'm glad you mentioned the evening glow worm excursion, as that is one of the things we were looking at for our son.

Five more months! Getting excited!

 

[Cousin Orville]

I can add my thoughts and experience with the GBR day. I thought the snorkeling was great and certainly long enough for us. We did the helicopter tour and would strongly recommend it. I'll have to check my photos, but I thought there were 4 or 5 of us. It was my DS and me along with another family. If you want to do it, you sign up on board the ship during the trip out to the GBR. We snorkeled in the morning and took our flight and the submarine ride in the afternoon. It was a busy full day.

 

[JimsPrincess]

I'm so glad to have found these posts. We were looking at doing this trip next summer June/Julyish. We were concerned about it being too cold for the kids to snorkel. We also worried about travel once in Australia. We took the kids to Scotland two years ago w Disney and didn't realize that little cute map w busses actually meant full day bus rides. It was a great trip but by the end we weren't keen on seeing a bus anytime soon.

So my main questions are

1. Can you share what the travel is (busses?) once there and for how long on which days?
2. Is it too cold to snorkel? Sounds like it's not as they provide wetsuits correct?

Kids would be 11 yr old boy 13 yr old girl. What ages did you see while there?

On our trip to Scotland the food was so different and some places remote that it was our one complaint for the kids having food choices.

3. Do you feel they offered food choices kids would enjoy?

4. What tips do you have for something you should have packed or should have left home.

 

[Tsunami]

I can add my thoughts and experience with the GBR day. I thought the snorkeling was great and certainly long enough for us. We did the helicopter tour and would strongly recommend it. I'll have to check my photos, but I thought there were 4 or 5 of us. It was my DS and me along with another family. If you want to do it, you sign up on board the ship during the trip out to the GBR. We snorkeled in the morning and took our flight and the submarine ride in the afternoon. It was a busy full day.

Thank you! I LOVED your trip report and that convinced me we should do the helicopter and see the GBR from above! Appreciate it!

I'm so glad to have found these posts. We were looking at doing this trip next summer June/Julyish. We were concerned about it being too cold for the kids to snorkel. We also worried about travel once in Australia. We took the kids to Scotland two years ago w Disney and didn't realize that little cute map w busses actually meant full day bus rides. It was a great trip but by the end we weren't keen on seeing a bus anytime soon.

So my main questions are

1. Can you share what the travel is (busses?) once there and for how long on which days?
2. Is it too cold to snorkel? Sounds like it's not as they provide wetsuits correct?

Kids would be 11 yr old boy 13 yr old girl. What ages did you see while there?

On our trip to Scotland the food was so different and some places remote that it was our one complaint for the kids having food choices.

3. Do you feel they offered food choices kids would enjoy?

4. What tips do you have for something you should have packed or should have left home.

I haven't been on the trip yet as we are going in December, but here are the age/gender breakdowns of the kids on our trip as of the time of our booking:

8G
11B
10B
13G
13B
15G
9G
12B
12G
15G
10B
12G

 

[Cousin Orville]

Thank you! I LOVED your trip report and that convinced me we should do the helicopter and see the GBR from above! Appreciate it!

Thanks! I checked my pictures more closely, and the helicopter we flew in accommodated 5 guests. 4 in the main cabin and 1 up front with the pilot.