RobynPrincess
Looking around
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2010
A Pre-Trip.
I'll be honest right from the start here, I feel a little out of my depth. Actually that's an understatement, I feel completely out of my depth and totally overwhelmed. I know Walt Disney World like the back of my hand so this is all new to me and its a scary concept not to know pretty much exactly where I want to go/what I want to eat etc.
This report will be a little different to most on this forum as it will not only feature at Disneyland (inc the 60th Anniversary Celebration!) but San Fran, Vegas, LA and Palm Springs!
I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here. I better introduce who is going on the trip.
First up would be me, Robyn (as the name suggests). I've written a fair few trip reports on the UK boards so you may have read them but I'll introduce myself here properly. I'm a 30 year old Disney addict. I've been to WDW nearly 20 times since being a teenager. I'm a big Tinkerbell fan, I think she's tiny but fierce! In fact we named our cat after her
I couldn't choose a favourite Disney movie, there are FAR too many to choose from, though the Little Mermaid was the first film I saw in the cinema so it holds a special place in my heart. I can't pinpoint when exactly my obsession began, Gummie Bears was a favourite tv show when I was little and the Disney Channel was a permanent fixture on our TV - much to my dad's disgust.
Next up would be my lovely hubby Simon or Sy. He first went to WDW on our honeymoon (which was actually his choice, I wanted to go somewhere and relax but he had never been so wanted to go, it didn't take much convincing lol). He's slowly turning into an even bigger Disney geek than me! I often say he's so laid back he's horizontal
He's very easy going and will pretty much go along with any plan I make. I like to think its cause my plans are so awesome but most probably cause he will do anything for an easy life hahaha!
We finally took the plunge and became DVC members in 2012 at AKL and then we added on a month later at VGF. Our last trip to WDW together was in October/November (I went for a week with a friend in March), where we renewed our wedding vows on our AKL balcony. Here we are...
We are also kidnapping my best frient Jane She's the same age as me (well a month and a bit younger to be exact), we met at ballroom dancing class and bonded over the fact we were the only people in the class not retired hehe. We became friends and discovered we have a lot in common; The Little Mermaid was our first Disney love, we both have awesome taste in music, we love dancing, love cooking and eating
I gave Jane the choice of which pic to upload and this is her choice...
Pahahahahahaha! That was taken Christmas eve at her house.
I was probably doing Jane a disservice before saying she doesn't 'get' Disney. Her favourite Disney character is Fidget, a bit of an off the wall one there! She likes Disney movies and went to Disneyland Paris once but she doesn't yet see what Disney theme parks have to offer grown up (a common mistake I think), plus you can't exactly judge other Disney parks based on Paris... She has an open mind though as she will be heading to Disneyland for the day with us and staying at the Grand California for 2 nights before she flies home.
Which brings me onto her dates. She will be flying out with us and staying 10 nights, visiting San Fran, Vegas and LA/Disney.
How did the trip come about?
There was a flight glitch online in the run up to our last WDW holiday. Sy was out when I saw it online, I quickly did a little more research and found that they would be perfect for our much talked about West Coast adventure. The flights were with Virgin Atlantic flying direct from London to San Francisco and flying direct home again to London from Los Angeles. Sy came home and knew from the moment he walked in the door something was up! First thing he said to me was 'What have you done?' Moi?! Nothing yet dear You might find this hard to believe (or you may not) but I am actually the sensible one when it comes to money, Sy would spend like there's no tomorrow whereas I reign him back in (did I mention it was him who had to talk me into the VGF?!). So I think you can probably guess how long it took to get those flights booked... 5 mins later we were bouncing round the living room at finally getting our long awaited West Coast trip!
We have been planning and dreaming about our West Coast trip for many years, one of the things that put us off was the huge flight price, well with this glitch we paid less than what 1 flight would have cost us. It would have been silly not to book those flights really at least that's what I keep telling myself when I looked at hotel prices and couldn't sleep at night...
We knew the West Coast was more expensive than Florida so we decided to go for 2 & ½ weeks, flying out on the 6th May and getting home on the 25th. We would have loved to stay for longer but we were worried about affording all the hotels and spending money. As it happens we still underestimated just how much more the West coast would cost. At one point we were looking at Super 8 hotels and fast food dinners.
The itinerary has changed *so* many times since we booked those flights. We had a list of places we knew we wanted to visit but kinda not enough time to see them all, still there's always next time
The list began like this;
San Fran
Napa Valley
Yosemite
Last Vegas
Grand Canyon
Area 41
Palm Springs
Malibu
Anehiem
San Diego
L.A.
Napa was the first casualty, Sy wasn't that bothered about going there and it was in the opposite direction to Yosemite. As I knew we had so much to try and fit in, I caved pretty quick.
Next was San Diego. We wanted to go for the Zoo and Seaworld but we decided that there's only so much time to fit stuff in and Zoo's are worldwide and we can visit Seaworld in Orlando (obviously they aren't the same but close enough for us to not feel they were a 'must do' on our first trip west).
Then came Palm Springs, we were gutted but that's just how it goes.
Then came a huge change, Yosemite. First it went from 2 nights to 1 night, to give us 4 nights in Las Vegas. Then we decided it seemed a bit silly to drive for hours from San Fran to Yosemite, get there and sleep, and then get up early for another gruelling drive the next day. The hotels in Yosemite were expensive which helped sway our decision if we were only gonna get there, crash and get up early again. Plus I'm not the best in the car for hours on end. So we decided to fly from SF to Las Vegas.
Grand Canyon and Area 41, we only have 4 nights planned Las Vegas so there's only so much we can do. There's no way I'm getting in a helicopter to see the Grand Canyon so we would have to drive there and back in 1 day. Sy is really into Sci-Fi so he would love to go to area 41 to the tacky cafe's etc but there's just not gonna be time.
Then came Malibu, the hotel I was coveting shot up in price, it literally doubled so it went from quite expensive to lottery win so we had to drop it. The other hotels in the area weren't anywhere near as nice as that one and it was that specific hotel I wanted. So instead, Palm Spring got bumped back onto the list.
Last up to lose was LA. We were meant to be staying in LA for the last 3 nights before flying home but then Disney released all the exciting 60th Anniversay stuff... Well we couldn't miss that once in a lifetime experience could we?! Instead we will travel into LA a few times for a look around but stay in Anaheim.
I'll be honest right from the start here, I feel a little out of my depth. Actually that's an understatement, I feel completely out of my depth and totally overwhelmed. I know Walt Disney World like the back of my hand so this is all new to me and its a scary concept not to know pretty much exactly where I want to go/what I want to eat etc.
This report will be a little different to most on this forum as it will not only feature at Disneyland (inc the 60th Anniversary Celebration!) but San Fran, Vegas, LA and Palm Springs!
I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here. I better introduce who is going on the trip.
First up would be me, Robyn (as the name suggests). I've written a fair few trip reports on the UK boards so you may have read them but I'll introduce myself here properly. I'm a 30 year old Disney addict. I've been to WDW nearly 20 times since being a teenager. I'm a big Tinkerbell fan, I think she's tiny but fierce! In fact we named our cat after her
I couldn't choose a favourite Disney movie, there are FAR too many to choose from, though the Little Mermaid was the first film I saw in the cinema so it holds a special place in my heart. I can't pinpoint when exactly my obsession began, Gummie Bears was a favourite tv show when I was little and the Disney Channel was a permanent fixture on our TV - much to my dad's disgust.Next up would be my lovely hubby Simon or Sy. He first went to WDW on our honeymoon (which was actually his choice, I wanted to go somewhere and relax but he had never been so wanted to go, it didn't take much convincing lol). He's slowly turning into an even bigger Disney geek than me! I often say he's so laid back he's horizontal
He's very easy going and will pretty much go along with any plan I make. I like to think its cause my plans are so awesome but most probably cause he will do anything for an easy life hahaha!We finally took the plunge and became DVC members in 2012 at AKL and then we added on a month later at VGF. Our last trip to WDW together was in October/November (I went for a week with a friend in March), where we renewed our wedding vows on our AKL balcony. Here we are...
We are also kidnapping my best frient Jane
She's the same age as me (well a month and a bit younger to be exact), we met at ballroom dancing class and bonded over the fact we were the only people in the class not retired hehe. We became friends and discovered we have a lot in common; The Little Mermaid was our first Disney love, we both have awesome taste in music, we love dancing, love cooking and eating I gave Jane the choice of which pic to upload and this is her choice...
Pahahahahahaha! That was taken Christmas eve at her house.
I was probably doing Jane a disservice before saying she doesn't 'get' Disney. Her favourite Disney character is Fidget, a bit of an off the wall one there! She likes Disney movies and went to Disneyland Paris once but she doesn't yet see what Disney theme parks have to offer grown up (a common mistake I think), plus you can't exactly judge other Disney parks based on Paris... She has an open mind though as she will be heading to Disneyland for the day with us and staying at the Grand California for 2 nights before she flies home.
Which brings me onto her dates. She will be flying out with us and staying 10 nights, visiting San Fran, Vegas and LA/Disney.
How did the trip come about?
There was a flight glitch online in the run up to our last WDW holiday. Sy was out when I saw it online, I quickly did a little more research and found that they would be perfect for our much talked about West Coast adventure. The flights were with Virgin Atlantic flying direct from London to San Francisco and flying direct home again to London from Los Angeles. Sy came home and knew from the moment he walked in the door something was up! First thing he said to me was 'What have you done?' Moi?! Nothing yet dear
You might find this hard to believe (or you may not) but I am actually the sensible one when it comes to money, Sy would spend like there's no tomorrow whereas I reign him back in (did I mention it was him who had to talk me into the VGF?!). So I think you can probably guess how long it took to get those flights booked... 5 mins later we were bouncing round the living room at finally getting our long awaited West Coast trip!We have been planning and dreaming about our West Coast trip for many years, one of the things that put us off was the huge flight price, well with this glitch we paid less than what 1 flight would have cost us. It would have been silly not to book those flights really
at least that's what I keep telling myself when I looked at hotel prices and couldn't sleep at night...We knew the West Coast was more expensive than Florida so we decided to go for 2 & ½ weeks, flying out on the 6th May and getting home on the 25th. We would have loved to stay for longer but we were worried about affording all the hotels and spending money. As it happens we still underestimated just how much more the West coast would cost. At one point we were looking at Super 8 hotels and fast food dinners.
The itinerary has changed *so* many times since we booked those flights. We had a list of places we knew we wanted to visit but kinda not enough time to see them all, still there's always next time
The list began like this;
San Fran
Napa Valley
Yosemite
Last Vegas
Grand Canyon
Area 41
Palm Springs
Malibu
Anehiem
San Diego
L.A.
Napa was the first casualty, Sy wasn't that bothered about going there and it was in the opposite direction to Yosemite. As I knew we had so much to try and fit in, I caved pretty quick.
Next was San Diego. We wanted to go for the Zoo and Seaworld but we decided that there's only so much time to fit stuff in and Zoo's are worldwide and we can visit Seaworld in Orlando (obviously they aren't the same but close enough for us to not feel they were a 'must do' on our first trip west).
Then came Palm Springs, we were gutted but that's just how it goes.
Then came a huge change, Yosemite. First it went from 2 nights to 1 night, to give us 4 nights in Las Vegas. Then we decided it seemed a bit silly to drive for hours from San Fran to Yosemite, get there and sleep, and then get up early for another gruelling drive the next day. The hotels in Yosemite were expensive which helped sway our decision if we were only gonna get there, crash and get up early again. Plus I'm not the best in the car for hours on end. So we decided to fly from SF to Las Vegas.
Grand Canyon and Area 41, we only have 4 nights planned Las Vegas so there's only so much we can do. There's no way I'm getting in a helicopter to see the Grand Canyon so we would have to drive there and back in 1 day. Sy is really into Sci-Fi so he would love to go to area 41 to the tacky cafe's etc but there's just not gonna be time.
Then came Malibu, the hotel I was coveting shot up in price, it literally doubled so it went from quite expensive to lottery win so we had to drop it. The other hotels in the area weren't anywhere near as nice as that one and it was that specific hotel I wanted. So instead, Palm Spring got bumped back onto the list.
Last up to lose was LA. We were meant to be staying in LA for the last 3 nights before flying home but then Disney released all the exciting 60th Anniversay stuff... Well we couldn't miss that once in a lifetime experience could we?! Instead we will travel into LA a few times for a look around but stay in Anaheim.
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