Way Out West Pre-trip Report

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Cast

Me: David – 36
Dad: Ray - 61

Just over three years ago Dad and I ‘discovered’ Canada and we have been at least once a year since. We were booked to go again in July of this year but in March the tour company telephoned and told us that the trip had been cancelled because they did not have enough people to fill a coach. As I had used all of my holiday for this year we looked at other options but all the other tours were longer than the one that had been cancelled or went at a time that I could not go so we began looking at DIY options.

After discussing a few things I suddenly thought what about Disneyland and the more I thought about it the better it sounded. We finally decided on a two-centre holiday – 4 nights in San Francisco and 5 nights in Disneyland exactly matching the dates of our cancelled Canadian trip. Flights were booked with Virgin using Miles plus Money flying into San Francisco and out of LAX. We then searched on Expedia and booked 4 nights at the Best Western Tuscan Inn at Fisherman’s Wharf followed by an internal flight with United from San Francisco to Los Angeles. We decided to stay onsite at Disneyland and booked direct with Disney for 5 nights at the Grand Californian with theme park view and 6 day park hopper souvenir tickets.

We spent the first part of this afternoon booking excursions and the itinerary now looks like this:

Wednesday 30th July

I will be watching the clock at work all day and hoping to sneak off a bit early. Taxi is booked to pick us up at 6:00 p.m. and take us to the Holiday Inn London Heathrow for an overnight stay.

Thursday 31st July

Leave the hotel for the short hop to Terminal 3 where our flight is due to leave at 11:00, arriving at San Francisco at 1:50 pm where we have a town car booked with Execucar to whisk us to the Best Western Tuscan Inn at the heart of Fisherman’s Wharf.

Friday 1st August

In the morning we will explore the Fisherman’s Wharf area, including the Aquarium At The Bay (admission included in the City Pass booklets we ordered today) and the Boudin’s Sourdough Bakery. The afternoon will be spent on the Fire Engine Tour.

Saturday 2nd August

Today we will be taking the Wine Country Tour Shuttle for a day of wine tasting.

Sunday 3rd August

Plans for today include the Cable Car museum, shopping and Union Square.

Monday 4th August

Again we are booked with Execucar for the transfer to San Francisco airport where our internal flight is due to leave at 11:53 am, arriving at Los Angeles at 1:20 pm where we hope to have a town car booked with Luken Limos to take us to the Grand Californian.

Tuesday 5th August

Today will be spent in and around Disneyland and Downtown Disney and I am hoping to get a reservation for lunch at Blue Bayou to try a Monte Cristo sandwich!

Wednesday 6th August

Disney’s California Adventure is the park of choice for today.

Thursday 7th August

This morning we have seats booked on the 9:08 am Amtrak train from Anaheim to Los Angeles and we have Front Of Line tickets for Universal Studios. Depending on how much time we spend at Universal we will hopefully also be spending some time in Hollywood before we return to Union Station for the 8:30 pm train back to Anaheim.

Friday 8th August

Today will be spent revisiting favourite and missed attractions in Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure.

Saturday 9th August

This morning we check out of the hotel and spend the day trying to slow time down as we will have a town car booked to take us back to the airport for our 8:55 pm flight back to Heathrow arriving at 3:35 pm on Sunday and once again a taxi should be waiting to bring us home.


We have been to San Francisco before, which is why Alcatraz is missing from the itinerary but we have never been to Disneyland so I am looking forward to seeing all the attractions that are not at WDW and to seeing Toy Story Mania, which we were just too early to see when we were at WDW earlier this year. This is also the first time we have done this sort of thing DIY so I am hoping that everything goes smoothly and all the bookings are actually there!

Day 0 - Journey to Heathrow

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You leave on the day we arrive in San Francisco - and I was looking forward to reading your trippie before we went as well - you could always do a 'live' version

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First day is now up here.