West Coast DVC family takes on 7 states, 2 countries, 1 world and more points!

[Sammie]

Enjoying your report but I do hope that everyone realizes that Disney's Port Orleans and Disneyland's version is about as much like New Orleans as France in Epcot is like Paris.

New Orleans is one of the most fascinating cities in the world, but no I would never take children to Bourbon Street anymore than I would take them to any adult venue. There is much to see and do in New Orleans that does not involve Bourbon Street, they have a fabulous aquarium but it does take planning, just like doing Disney World does.

I have not looked at the point setup for Aulani but do the points required change at 7 months versus 11 months.

We decided on 110 because it was enough to get 6 nights in a no nonsense studio at the 11 month mark. At 7 months, we could bump it up to a villa if there were any available.

And yes there are plenty of Starbucks in the South just not along the Interstate exits, they are in the cities.

 

[ACDSNY]

Beautiful picture of you & your family at the Alamo. The memories from the trip will be a treasure to all of you many years from now.

 

[Disney_Mama]

Great report. Love your pictures. Thanks so much for taking us along.

 

[ErinC]

Great report. We live 2 hours from New Orleans, and DH refuses to go. San Antonio is on my "bucket list" of places to go. Love the trip report. I'm a teacher, but DH is not, so a long trip like yours is about impossible for us. I'd sure love to try though.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Enjoying your report but I do hope that everyone realizes that Disney's Port Orleans and Disneyland's version is about as much like New Orleans as France in Epcot is like Paris.

New Orleans is one of the most fascinating cities in the world, but no I would never take children to Bourbon Street anymore than I would take them to any adult venue. There is much to see and do in New Orleans that does not involve Bourbon Street, they have a fabulous aquarium but it does take planning, just like doing Disney World does.

I have not looked at the point setup for Aulani but do the points required change at 7 months versus 11 months.



And yes there are plenty of Starbucks in the South just not along the Interstate exits, they are in the cities.

Never, ever take children on Bourbon Street, either during daytime or nighttime. It stinks badly and your little ones will see things you can't even imagine.

We were in NOLA once for their marathon - our family and our friends. We were staying closer to the start of the race on Poydras, so we had dinner and then decided to walk over to the French Quarter. Dummies that we are, we wound up on Bourbon St and quickly took a side street to get over to one of the other streets closer to Royal and Chartes.

There are so many better places to take the family in NOLA. Take the trolley down St Charles to the Audubon Zoo. Walk over to the Aquarium. Even a daytime cemetary tour is rather interesting - just don't do the cemetaries at night by yourself. Only go on tours.

Now San Antonio is on my "been there, done that" list. I've been twice and felt that was enough.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Beautiful San Antonio!

...go to the Mariachi mass at the nearby cathedral.

....

We somehow missed that mass...had the time wrong! We enjoyed San Antonio at Christmas time, when we went to Las Posadas.

I'm enjoying your report and your pictures!

Bobbi

 

[nunzia]

Enjoying your report! We did the road trip thing to WDW once and it was really a memoriable experience..two days through Texas and then all of the south..bypassed NO and no regrets (but in a couple years we are looking into taking the train to NO ((where it STOPS since no one will do what they need to do to fix the track or whatever since Katrina)) then rent a car from there and drive to WDW. Hampton Inn New Orleans downtown has been duly noted )
We also enjoyed a family trip to San Antonio..the Alamo and Riverwalk area are nice and we also did Sea World there.

 

[Mjkre]

Enjoying your report! Next week, this East Coast Disney Family takes on the West Coast....well at least the Portland to San Francisco part of it! We have one giant road trip planned after visiting relatives in Portland. I told my husband planning a Disney trip was sooo much easier! But your report is getting me excited!

 

[Brancaneve]

Enjoying your report! Next week, this East Coast Disney Family takes on the West Coast....well at least the Portland to San Francisco part of it! We have one giant road trip planned after visiting relatives in Portland. I told my husband planning a Disney trip was sooo much easier! But your report is getting me excited!

Enjoy your trip!

 

[DenLo]

I found your TR this evening, it's wonderful. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and all the photos. You have a lovely family. Can't wait to hear about the next leg of the trip.

 

[Brancaneve]

We left San Antonio at 4:30 am and began our long voyage to Tuscon. This was the toughest day that we had so far because it was the longest drive at 881 miles. On a road trip cross country, I highly suggest making a point to stop at the rest stops along the way. I really loved how each rest stop reflected the architecture and personality of its state. Texas even offers free wi-fi at all its rest stops!

Once we entered the city, the drive to the Hilton El Conquistador Golf and Tennis Resort seemed to take longer than the entire trip! Don't you hate it when that happens? But along the way, we scoped an In n' Out Hamburger restaurant and had an extremely enjoyable time savoring the simplicity of their burgers and fries. Tuscon is a very beautiful city, and as we made our way towards Oracle Road, I became even more enamored with the desert.

This particular Hilton hotel has timeshare properties adjacent to the hotel. I saw cute casitas off to one side, and a golf course, along with beautiful grounds. I didn't really know what to expect as I had not done much research on Tripadvisor about the quality of the hotel. Before we arrived, we had made the decision to not stay 2 nights as we had originally planned. As you probably can guess, we were just ready to go home and back to our beds and to retreat to our individual corners of the house. However, I was tempted to add another night when I saw our room.

http://www.hiltonelconquistador.com...odations/medium/TwoQueenBeddedJuniorSuite.jpg

 

[Brancaneve]

We left San Antonio at 4:30 am and began our long voyage to Tuscon. This was the toughest day because it was the longest drive at 881 miles. On a side note, I highly suggest making a point to stop at the rest stops along the way. I really loved how each rest stop reflected the architecture and personality of its state. Texas even offers free wi-fi at all its rest stops!

Once we entered the city, the drive to the Hilton El Conquistador Golf and Tennis Resort seemed to take longer than the entire trip! Don't you hate it when that happens? But along the way, we scoped an In n' Out Hamburger restaurant and had an extremely enjoyable time savoring the simplicity of their burgers and fries. Tuscon is a very beautiful city, and as we made our way towards Oracle Road, I became even more enamored with the desert.

This particular Hilton hotel has timeshare properties adjacent to the hotel. I saw cute casitas off to one side, a golf course, along with beautiful grounds. I didn't really know what to expect as I had not done much research on Tripadvisor about the quality of the hotel. Before we arrived, we had made the decision to not stay 2 nights as we had originally planned. As you probably can guess, we were just ready to go back to our beds and to retreat to our individual corners of the house. However, I was tempted to add another night when I saw our room.

I wish I had taken pictures but by now I was a little frazzled and couldn't locate half the things I packed for the trip. It took me four days to find my shoes in the debris of the van! The room is considered a jr. suite and is large with a sitting area, two double beds, a beautiful bathroom and a walk in closet. The decorative details were wonderful!

We enjoyed our refreshing dip in the cool after a long drive, and took advantage of the fire pits surrounding the pool. The desert can be chilly in the evening!

Finally, we decided that we just really wanted to go home. I actually, believe it or not, missed the daily chores that I complained about before leaving. I wanted to go to my favorite grocery store and cook up a storm. My kids wanted to play with their toys and watch their favorite cartoons. And even after reading my Kindle for two weeks, I was looking forward to a trip to our local library. DH was getting increasingly depressed about going back to work. Surely, the beauty of going on vacation is how it makes you appreciate your life at home, except for the work part.

We left the next morning for home and this time had 856 miles to go to complete our 2,930 miles! Again, the drive from Stockton to our hometown took forrrrrevvver(we're talking 25 miles here). Although I missed my old routines, I felt strangely out of place as I drove around town trying to get all of my errands done. Does that ever happen to anyone else? My body wanted to be in a different "mode" but it was still on "vacation mode" and I was looking at everything with fresh eyes.

Update: It has been 3 weeks since the end of our Disney Cruise and I have not heard a call from a guide regarding our add on! There has been nothing in the mail, no "I'm so sorry we forgot about you! Can we throw in a free cruise for your troubles? " type of call. We decided to wait a little more and then give them a call at the start of the new billing cycle on our credit card, thereby giving us a little bit more time to pay it off.

All in all, we had a fabulous time and I am so appreciative and thankful for DVC and my beautiful family. I miss it all terribly and can't wait for another trip to "Africa" and another cruise. Another road trip would even be considered but I need some buffer time before I can accept the challenge! Thank you to all my disboard amigos for their nice comments regarding my very first trip report, which certainly will not be my last!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Thanks for telling us about your great road trip!

 

[nunzia]

I enjoyed your trip!

 

[disneymotherof3]

Sounds and looks like you all had a great trip full of memories!!! Thanks for sharing!

 

[franandaj]

Thanks for sharing about your trip! That was a very ambitious road trip. I'm not sure I could take so many long days in the car and covering so much territory in such a short time. Congratulations for making the whole way, and I'll look forward to reading future trip reports!

 

[ACDSNY]

Great report. I'm still amazed you all survived being on the road that long without any major meltdowns. Awesome! All your planning sure paid off.

 

[AnnaS]

Thank you for sharing your trip with us. That must be some experience riding across the country for sure.

I always say we need to go on vacation to appreciate coming back home. After a week on vacation I wish I was home having my own plain cooked meal but when I am home, I wish I had a menu in front of me every night and someone was serving me.

 

[Brancaneve]

Thank you for sharing your trip with us. That must be some experience riding across the country for sure.

I always say we need to go on vacation to appreciate coming back home. After a week on vacation I wish I was home having my own plain cooked meal but when I am home, I wish I had a menu in front of me every night and someone was serving me.

Isn't that the truth!