California and WDW - Pre-trip report

[Mazzy]

The Adventurers:

DH Phil 55 - Provider of Funds. Terrible flyer, but prepared to do it!
Yours Truly 44 - obsessive trip planner and 'she who is in charge'
DD Sam 17 - loves her bed, but will sacrifice her lie-ins for Disney! Loves Pirates and Orlando Bloom.
DS Dan 13 - thankfully not a terrible teen. The bravest of all The Adventurers, loves the BIG Rides!

This is my first real try at a trip report, and it's a big trip this time so I will try my best to keep notes!

We have been to WDW 7 times now, and thought it was time to stretch our wings and explore a bit more of the good ol' US of A. I have always wanted to visit the West Coast, and as they have Disney over there too, that sealed the deal!

All the family love Disney, even Phil who has reached the Grumpy Old Man stage in his life, and I'm really pleased that at 17, Sam still wants to come with us!

We are travelling with Virgin, who only fly the San Francisco route from Heathrow, so ...



Saturday 4 August – pick up 7 seater, drive down to London, drop car off and stay overnight at Crowne Plaza Heathrow. We may sneak into the terminal and get some Krispy Kremes!


Sunday 5 August – Taxi to airport (only 5 mins away) London to SAN FRANCISCO. Flight Time: 11am Arrival Time: 1.50pm. LONG FLIGHT!
We are staying at Holiday Inn Express & Suites Fishermans Wharf – we have a Family Suite which should provide enough space for us. sanfrancisco/holiday-inn-express/

Trader Joe’s shop for drinks, snacks - have been told this shop is similar to M&S Simply Food, it will be interesting to see it, no doubt it will be huge and ten times the size of any Simply Food outlets!


Monday 6 August – get 3 Day Muni passes - these passes will let us travel on the cable cars, buses and trams so very good value. We will then take a taxi to Golden Gate Bridge, where we're hoping to get some great photos, and also there is a visitor centre there with some info on the bridge history. Then we hop on a bus which goes over the bridge to a small town called Sausalito, where we will have lunch at Saylors Landing Restaurant, hopefully on the deck if the weather is warm enough. After browsing round the town, it's over to the ferry, which will take us to the Ferry Building back in San Francisco, this looks an interesting buildng and has now been converted to shops, so another chance to take avantage of the great exchange rate! Then we take the tram on the F-Line - these trams are from all around the World, they even have a Blackpool tram, would you believe. The tram will take us back to the Wharf, where we can walk back to the hotel.


Tuesday 7 August – today is the day for the Alactraz Tour. We're really looking forward to this, we've all seen it in films and can't wait to explore it, and I was really pleased to find out that their short film about the prison has captions for me, and they can provide a script to replace the audio tour that everyone else will be using. In the afternoon, we will probably hit the shops, Sam wants another brown bag from Bloomingdales, as the one she has is falling apart. We may try to get into The Cheesecake Factory which is in Macy's on the top floor, apparently it has fantastic views! In the evening wander round Fishermans Wharf/The Cannery/Pier 39 etc, all within walking distance from the hotel.


Wednesday 8 August – Today we will be taking a Cable Car ride up to Chinatown then later on a bus to Coit Tower, which has a lift to the top for fantastic views.


Thursday 9 August – this morning we depart at 8.30 am for MONTEREY, which is about a 2 hour drive down the coast. We didn't fancy driving the winding roads, so have a driver and SUV picking us up.
We will be staying at the montereybayinn which is right near the water and has balconies with binoculars so you can watch the seals/sea otters and anything else which may be around.

We have only 1.5 days in Monterey but hope to visit Fishemans Wharf and Cannery Row, Sam wants to do a horseride on the beach, one of her 'do before your die' items and we are aiming to walk the coast path up to Pacific Grove, and also see the Carmel Beach Sunset. A lot to pack in, considering this was our 'relax' after the City!


Cont ...

[Mazzy]

Saturday 11 August – taxi to airport – flight to LA for DISNEYLAND RESORT
We are staying at the Grand Californian Hotel at Disneyland Resort disneyland.disney.go/disn...telLandingPage it is quite expensive, so we are all in one room, a bit of a squeeze, but hopefully the great location right in the middle of the parks will make up for it.

I found out about Disneyland Vacation Planning, who help Disneyland Hotel Guest with organising their trip. They have arranged signed photos for everyone of the characters, First Visit to DL badges, and also have arranged for a 'coffee Lovers' basket for Phil to be delivered to the room, as a thank you for the funding the trip. They also booked the Fantasmic Seating for me, as mentioned below and our restaurant bookings. Great service and saved me a lot of phone calls.

Tonight we are hoping to see the Electrical Parade, and also get some rides in, although the park will be very busy, we will have to see how we get on.

Sunday 12 August – for this morning, I have booked a private SUV tour of Orange County Beaches: Newport, Laguna and Huntington Beach. Being an OC Fan, I am really looking forward to this, and it will be nice to see the beaches, as I have heard they are stunning, especially Laguna.

When we get back to the hotel, we will nip into the parks to get fastpasses for later, then it's relax by the pool time.
In the evening, into the parks for rides, then I have booked the Fantasmic Riverside Viewing, which is a secret from the rest of the family. At DL there is no proper stadium for Fantasmic, like at MGM, and these seats are the only way to sit in comfort to watch it, you are given a dessert box which contains choc covered strawberries, cookies etc and drinks are served by the CM, so I'm hoping the others are pretty impressed when they get there!

Monday 13 August – it's Early Entry at Disneyland Park today, which opens at 7am! Hopefully I can drag everyone up in time. We are then booked in for the Character Breakfast Buffet with Minnie Mouse and friends at the Plaza Restaurant.

In the afternoon it's nap time/pool time then back to the parks and also an
evening meal at Blue Bayou Restaurant, which is attached to the Pirates of the Caribbean Ride. If you've been in the Mexico Pavilion in EPCOT, I'm imagining it's a similar setup to that, as you can request a seat near the water and see the boats go past. They also serve 3 different Pirate Desserts, and as Sam is POC mad, she is looking forward to this.


Tuesday 14 August – checkout, leave bags at left luggage. Go to parks. Have Lunch (not sure where yet). Then it's off to HOLLYWOOD!
We are staying at the renaissancehollywood . We have booked a suite, and some rooms have views of the Hollywood Sign so hoping we have! There is a Jazz evening at Hollywood & Highland tonight, Phil is a big Jazz fan so we will wander over to that, the hotel is actually part of the H&H complex, there are also shops and restaurants.



Wednesday 15 August – Taxi to Universal Studios Hollywood. We have Front of the Line Passes so hopefully will get everything done in one day. The Studio Tour looks great, really looking forward to that.


Thursday 16 August –
This morning we have a driver and SUV arriving to take us on a Tour of Venice Beach/Santa Monica /Beverly Hills/Rodeo Drive and also we are hoping to have enough time to get up the hills to see the Hollywood Sign.

In the afternoon we will have some chill time on the rooftop pool (very Hollywood!) and then visit the handprints/stars/ which are just outside the hotel, and we also want to visit the Disney Soda Fountain which has some marvellous desserts!


Friday 17 August – Supershuttle to LAX for flight to ORLANDO.
Pick Up Time: 6.50 am to 7.05 am.
Flight Time: 9.35 am
Arrival Time: 5.37 pm
FLTours transfer to Hard Rock Hotel (with grocery stop for water/snacks). We are hoping to make the Firework show in Universal Studios at 9.45 pm, and also visit Pastamore our fave eatery at Universal.


Saturday 18 August – rides at parks with front of the line passes. We hope we can stand the heat until the first Water ski show at 12.55, as it does look good.
We will then head back to the hotel where we have a cabana at the pool 11 am til 11 pm. Jakki (TinkTatoo) has the cabana next to us, so we will maybe see each other there!
There is a Live Band at the pool at 7pm - Rock On!


Sunday 19 August – No rush today, we are going to have a lie-in and brekkie in bed, as check out is not 'til 11 am. We may go back to the parks if anyone is desparate to do any last rides and then it's off to the Dolphin in WDW www.swandolphin.com .

We are going to have quiet a relaxed itinerary at WDW, trying to avoid the heat as much as poss, it goes briefly like this:

Sunday 19 August - MAGIC KINGDOM Evening Extra Magic Hours


Monday 20 August – brekkie in bed. Pool time/hire boat/boardwalk.

Evening Animal Kingdom Extra Magic Hours


Tuesday 21 August – Magic Kingdom Early Entry then Crystal Palace Lunch 11.30 am

Evening EPCOT Extra Magic Hours
9pm – midnight.


Wednesday 22 August – not sure whether we will hit a park this morning or not, but we are being picked up at 2.15 pm for the airport.


That's it! I hope you're not

Like I said, it's a Big Trip, it's taken me a year to get it all planned, but I've really enjoyed it, though it's been a bit stressful making sure all the flights/hotels/dates are correct!

Hope you've enjoyed reading, and I will do my best to get a Trip Report posted when we get back, if anyone is interested.

[Guest]

Looking forward to hearing all about it ~ We're doing the West Coast next year.

[Rebelrebel]

Sounds great

[Strommie]

Sounds like its going to be amazing

[orlandosgr8]

Mazzy, you have planned a truly amazing trip. I can't believe all the different places you are going to visit, and the hotels look wonderful. Hope you all have a fantastic holiday, I am really looking forward to reading your trip report and seeing the photos

[Helen uk]

Sounds Brilliant Mazzy,we want to know everything so make sure you have plenty of paper/pens with you for your notes for the Trippie.

[anji]

OMG that puts all my planning to shame! Have a brilliant time

[Pedro]

Wow ! Looks Fantastic Mazzy. We follow you to San Francisco and Monterey a week later, then move on to Laguna Beach ending up in Las Vegas and a Grand Canyon Tour.

Peter

[shirley]

very busy holiday and i notice no shopping days, hope everything goes to plan shirley