See you on the West Coast Walt...Finally! August/Sept 12' PT

[chelseyleigh]

Update 1 (Sorry for the majoy delay! )

Tbh I haven't got TOO much to update at this time but we are in the process of booking a few hotels, we arn't planning on booking all of them but certain ones need to be booked for the following reasons -
LA - We fly into LAX and don't wanna be spending the first night knackered and looking around for a hotel.
Disney Hotel - Although we arn't staying in a disney hotel we want to stay in one very close by and I no how popular they can be
Vegas - Obviously its Vegas so we have gotta stay in a significant hotel and these also get booked up i'd imagine

So here's what I have managed to narrow it down to so far - PLEASE give opinions, would really appreciate it We are gonna need 3 rooms so we are on quite a budget but do wanna be in a nice location that is close to popular attractions.

LA -
Ocean Park Inn - Santa Monica - £714 (Total for 3 rooms for 3 nights)
Ocean Luxury lofts and suites - Santa Monica - £971
Double tree los Angeles Westside - Culver City - £713
Marina International hotel and bungalow - Marina Del Rey - £940
Marina Del Rey and Marina Hotel - Marina del rey - £1080

Disney hotels -
Anabella Hotel - £471 (Total for 3 rooms for 2 nights)
Carousel Inn & Suites - £392
Best Western Stovalls Inn - £397
Candy Cane Inn - £234

I am leaning towards the Carousel Inn and suites just because its SO close and watching the fireworks from the rooftop pool looking amazing! So if anyone has had any experience here Id love to hear about it! I was also wondering if anyone could tell me about the surrounding area, I saw in one of the pictures that there was a Mcdonalds nearby but are there any cheap breakfast buffets i.e. Golden coral, Ponderosa, Dennys etc..

As for Vegas we have all decided on MGM grand

Me and my mum have also decided that during our time in Yosemite we would like to do a horse ride, so if anyone has done anything like this i'd LOVE to hear any opinions or advice!

Well thats all for now guys!
Hopefully it wont be as long for my next update!

[k4ti3-x]

Havn't been to Santa Monica personally, but my friends have and if you love shopping you have to check out 3rd Street Promenade just up from the Pier in S.M and also in L.A the Grove is another amazing outdoor shopping area with beautiful fountains. For restaurants that are nice but not overly expensive, Urth cafe and true food cafe and the little next door are all suppose to be good know you've probably got a full itinerary already but Catalina just off L.A is suppose to be a beautiful island for a day trip!
p.s - so jealous your plans sound amazing - espec horse riding in Yosemite!

[chelseyleigh]

Originally Posted by k4ti3-x

Havn't been to Santa Monica personally, but my friends have and if you love shopping you have to check out 3rd Street Promenade just up from the Pier in S.M and also in L.A the Grove is another amazing outdoor shopping area with beautiful fountains. For restaurants that are nice but not overly expensive, Urth cafe and true food cafe and the little next door are all suppose to be good know you've probably got a full itinerary already but Catalina just off L.A is suppose to be a beautiful island for a day trip!
p.s - so jealous your plans sound amazing - espec horse riding in Yosemite!

See more...

ooo i do love a bit of shopping! thanks hun

[Guest]

Sounds like a great plan. Sounds lovely! So many places on your list that I'd love to visit! Only thing I'd say is there's a heck of a lot of driving involved there... wouldn't like to be the one doing all of that, and the Grand Canyon is longer than many people think from Vegas, around a 5-6 hour drive I've heard depending on which rim you visit.

I'm sure you'll have a great time and wish I was the one going!

[chelseyleigh]

Originally Posted by disneyoli

Sounds like a great plan. Sounds lovely! So many places on your list that I'd love to visit! Only thing I'd say is there's a heck of a lot of driving involved there... wouldn't like to be the one doing all of that, and the Grand Canyon is longer than many people think from Vegas, around a 5-6 hour drive I've heard depending on which rim you visit.

I'm sure you'll have a great time and wish I was the one going!

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Haha thanks

My mum and dad will be the only ones that will able to drive as everyone else is under 21 but my mum probally wont be driving much tbh! I think the grand canyon tour we are leaning towards picks us up from las vegas airport so we shouldn't need to drive the distance

thanks a lot

[Cyclospora]

We stayed in the Ramada Maingate Suites in Anaheim. There are quite a few hotels right across the road. There aren't any Sizzlers, Pondarosa or Golden Corrals nearby - but there quite a few restaurants around. We loved Red Robin, Tony Romas, Outback Steakhouse, Cheesecake Factory but didn't get the chance to try Mimis which always has good reports.

Have to make plans to go back!

[Kara]

Your trip sounds awesome, we did LA/Vegas 4 years ago and absolutely loved it and are hoping to do LA / San Fran next year. Your plans sound excellent, MGM is a great hotel we stayed at New York New York (which has a connecting bridge to MGM) and found a upgrade code online so we got a free room upgrade so it's worth looking around online for one of those. If any of your party are into tv/film I can't recommend the Warner brothers studios tour high enough, we found that to be the best by far. They do a 2 hr version which is the 1 we did, but they also do a 5hr one which we are going to do next year. I can't wait to hear what other plans you make

[chelseyleigh]

Update 2

Well not too much to update on right now guys apart from WE HAVE BOOKED THE LA AND VEGAS HOTELS

For LA we ended up going for the Marina Del Rey international. We paid a little over budget for this but it Looks lovely right on the harbour and hopefully its a great location and worth the extra..

marinaintlhotel/



And for Vegas after lots of advice from you lovlies we chose MGM grand, So excited!

mgmgrand/



If anyone has stayed in either of these hotels I would love to hear your opinions and any advice!
Now its just the disney hotel to book, I am still leaning towards the carousel Inn but again any advice would be great!

carouselinnandsuites/

We are leaving the San diego, Yosemite and San Francisco hotels till we are there, thats all part of the fly drive right!?

Hopefully the next update will be a little more exciting!

[Cyclospora]

Have a look at Humphrey Half Moon for accommodation in San Diego - they have gigs on during the summer and we were lucky enough to get tickets to see the Beachboys ... and we heard Sheryl Crowe and Air Supply from the pool area!

If you want somewhere to stop for lunch on the road between Vegas and San Diego/LA try Peggy Sue's near Calico. 1950s diner with good food.
We also stayed at MGM Grand too. Have a look at my trippie: From NY to LA - ayyy ayyy

http://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=456677

[chelseyleigh]

Update 3

And the finally hotel is booked!
We went for Carousel inn and suites

carouselinnandsuites/

Looks lovely and I cant wait to spend the first night on that rooftop watching the fireworks with Ryan



Spent today planning out our route on a massive map we have and marking little notes of what we are doing in each area...



I also started a folder just to keep all paperwork together...



The other night I had a nightmare - I had this image of all of us standing in the middle of disney arguing over where to eat and woke up in a sweat with ADRs and Dinner reservations running through my mind - I guess im too used to Florida planning!

So I started to check out the disney dining that Anaheim has to offer. Obviously its no where near the extent that Florida has but it still looks great! One place Im almost certian we will visit is Ralph Brenans Jazz Kitchen, Heard a lot about this place and Im guessing it will be our meal for our first night in Anaheim as its in Downtown disney and we wont have our tickets for this night.

So I need to pick 4 more resteraunts to eat at during our stay in Anaheim, I no theres plenty of great places to eat outside of disney but i figured we would have loads of time to enjoy these places during the rest of our holiday and i am a fan of disney dining. So im looking for 2 breakfast restaurants and 2 dinner restaurants, with atleast one character meal! Any reccomendations would be greatly appreciated!

I am also planning on making quite a few american based recipes before we go to get everyone in the mood! So far ive got -

- BBQ Pulled Pork
- Ihop stye pancakes
- Cinnamon Buns (Already tried and went down VERY well)
- Key lime pie (Hopefully like tony romas - Best one ever!)
- Tonga Toast (Kona cafe style)
- Cornbread (WCC style)
- Banana Bread and butter pudding (Ohanas style - Tried and loved!)

Ok so Im aware that most of the recipes on the list are Disney and not specifically American but I LOVE them and feel that they should be tried by everyone