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Old 18 Jan 15, 05:24 PM  
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LLKJDisney
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A Journey into the unknown

PRE-TRIP 2015

A JOURNEY INTO THE UNKNOWN! CALIFORNIA HE WE COME!

Hello again, for my liking it’s been far to long since I wrote a trip report. If you have read any of my previous 3 trip reports you will be aware that nearly 2 years without Disney is far too long for our family.

This trip to Disney is slightly different. Not least because it’s over 2000 miles away from where we normally get a Disney fix. As mentioned in my 2013 pre-trip we have had our eye on a west coast trip for a while. After several weeks of research we decided to take the plunge and last July we booked our flights, Heathrow to LAX.

Originally we wanted to do everything. San Francisco, San Diego, Anaheim & Las Vegas. However after looking into things a bit deeper we realised this would be too much travelling for us especially for our two boys aged 3 and 6. In the end we settled for 2 out 4 and went for Anaheim (which was always on the list) and San Diego. We always wanted to go for 3 weeks but knew this would be difficult with school and work so in the end we booked for 18 nights. I know this is not much different but it meant that we could have 3 weeks off work and not have to go straight back in the day after we landed (I have heard the jet lag is a lot worse than Florida) and for the boys would be better.

Now readers of my other trip reports will know that it is rare for us to travel just as a family of 4, so again on this trip Lee’s, Mum and Dad will join us. Readers of my 2010 report will be disappointed to hear that my Dad is NOT on this trip with us. I’m not sure California is ready for my father just yet

So in all there will be 6 of us

There’s me KERRY/MUMMY. By the time we fly I will be 37 (it hurts me to write that), I am still the main driver and organiser. I am most looking forward to experiencing something different, and as always seeing my boy’s faces, and least looking forward to 12 hours on a plane with Lucas (see below)


Then there is LEE/DADDY he will only be 36 when we fly. He is finance officer in charge of spends and budgets and all the boring stuff (he actually enjoys it). Lee is most looking forward to San Diego Zoo and least looking forward to the USS Midway Museum, although I am sure he will love it.


Next on the crew list is JACOB he is 6. Loves football just started playing this year. He also loves any thing to do with Disney. He is quite quiet and sensitive. We are hoping he will be braver this year and go on some of the bigger rides. He is most looking forward to in his words “everything, all of it!” and least looking forward to Shopping, he hates it with a passion!


The smallest member of our team will be LUCAS he is a 3-year-old whirlwind. He is the total opposite of his brother. Can change in seconds depending on his moods. He loves Disney and absolutely adores Frozen (twice a day since Christmas and I am not kidding). He is most looking forward to meeting OLAF. Not really sure what he will enjoy least but knowing Lucas he will let us all know if he is not happy.


Next on the cast list comes SUE/GRANDMA; she was 60 just before the New Year. Sue is looking forward to everything although mostly spending time with Jacob and Lucas (that could change on the plane journey) and probably least looking forward to spending 18 whole days with Lee as he winds her up all the time, but its good natured.

Last but not least is DICK/GRANDAD; he is 62 but thinks he is 32! Dick loves wildlife so will enjoy the Zoo and Safari park and will probably least enjoy queuing up to meet Queen Elsa.


That’s the cast list complete, now for a bit more info on our plans. We fly from Heathrow on Saturday 28th Match at 3.20pm.,Due to the afternoon flight we have decided to drive to Heathrow on the Saturday morning, I think a night in our own beds will suit us better than going to a hotel. We land at LAX around 8pm their time. We will then get a transfer (which we have yet to book so any recommendations would be great fully received) to this place: Which will be our base for the first 8 nights

Funtierland Vacation Rentals

Once Sue and Dick were coming we were always going to book a house rather than a hotel, it just suits us better with the boys and we feel so much more relaxed than staying in a hotel.

Originally we were going for 9 nights in Anaheim and 9 nights in San Diego, however Lee and I decided we wanted to spend the last day of the holiday at Disney so in the end we booked 8 nights in Anaheim, then 9 nights in San Diego and then plan to travel back to Disney for the last day/night and stay in a hotel (which we have yet to book). You will see we don’t like to make things easy for ourselves

So whilst in Anaheim we plan to; visit Disney for 2 days, Universal, Knotts Berry Farm and Santa Monica. At the minute we have 2 days spare in Anaheim but we want to get to see a bit of Hollywood and do lots of other bits and pieces. We know that going over Easter will mean busy parks but realistically it was the only time we could fit the holiday in. This means taking Jacob out of school for 4 days but as Lee cannot take annual leave in the summer holidays it was our only other choice. We intend to avoid the parks over the Easter weekend, if possible.

On Easter Monday (6th April) we will travel to San Diego. On the way we will go to Legoland for the day and after Legoland we will check in here:

Pacific Sands Vacation rentals

We will stay here until the 14th April. Finding a suitable house in San Diego was a lot more difficult than the one in Anaheim. I must thank AIMS for all her help and assistance, without this wonderful woman I would not have managed!. In the end we found a house we were happy with and one that was within our budget. Whilst in San Diego we intend to go to San Diego Zoo and Safari Park, Seaworld, La Jolla, USS Midway and Coronado Island. Again we have a couple of days spare but plenty of ideas on how to fill them.

We still have quite a bit to do. We intend to get the City Pass, Lee has been over and over ticket prices and is now convinced this is the best one for us. It means we will have to buy Knotts Berry Farm and USS Midway tickets separately but that’s not a problem.

We will be hiring a car but not picking it up until the Sunday as the last thing I want to do is get off a 12 hour flight and drive a car in the dark in LA! Lee and I will probably take the 20-minute walk to Disney and pick up the car on the Sunday morning. The cheapest quote we have had is £550 for 17 days. (USRENTACAR).

We need to renew our ESTA forms, we have just sent off for a new passport for Jacob as it ran out last year. Mine runs out in May but I have been assured that this will be ok. If any lovely Dibbers are privy to know different, PLEASE let me know ASAP!

The other things we need to do is book a transfer from LAX to Funtierland, have had a few quotes so far (between $85 and $110). We also need to book a hotel for the last night, I have a shortlist, but as I work for Marriott Hotels, I am waiting to see if I can get a decent staff rate for the Marriott Hotel.

We are starting to get very excited now, it was hard to focus on the holiday before Christmas but now Christmas is out of the way the holiday is fast approaching. Although we have done lots of research we still don’t really know what to expect (hence the trip title) but I think it’s the not knowing that creates the excitement.

I will update the pre-trip as and when we sort things out. If anybody has any hints or tips then they are most welcome, especially if you have visited with children or visited at Easter.

Thanks for reading
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Old 22 Jan 15, 09:46 PM  
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meandmyboy
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Oooh really looking forward to reading all about your trip now that mine's been cancelled (postponed until 2017 hopefully!). Especially as Anaheim and San Diego will be our main areas to visit and my son will be 6 when I hope for us to go (and is called Jacob too!).
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Old 22 Jan 15, 10:15 PM  
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Originally Posted by Jakes Mom View Post
PRE-TRIP 2015
I must thank AIMS for all her help and assistance, without this wonderful woman I would not have managed!.
Awww, so sweet of you to mention me, Kerry! I know it took awhile to find the right place for you, but believe me it was a pleasure for me to be able to help in some little way. It's important for me to know visitors will enjoy themselves in my fair city.

I'm so excited to see you are going to do a trip report! I was hoping you would. You're all going to have a wonderful time, even though it's over the busy spring break/Easter holiday, I'm sure you will find ways to manage it.

Looking forward to following your report and hopefully meeting up with you and your lovely family- perhaps over dinner or something- while you're in San Diego.

P.S. Lee will enjoy the Midway!
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Old 24 Jan 15, 09:08 PM  
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Old 9 Feb 15, 05:09 PM  
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Well with 7 weeks to go I am starting to panic slightly that I am behind in my planning. Lee assures me that I am not and we will be fine.

This weekend we ticked a few jobs off the list, we booked the car which cost over £800 for 17 days but we couldn't get it any cheaper no matter what we tried. We stuck to the plan of picking it up the morning after we arrive, so we will take a nice stroll to DTD to pick it up. We worked out that it was cheaper to drop the car back at LAX rather than get a transfer back.

I still need to sort out the transfer from LAX to our house in Anaheim when we land, but I have done the research so just have to pick the best quote now.

We booked our hotel for the last night in Anaheim, we went with the Anabella as it was in our budget and easy reach of Disney where we plan to spend our last day.

Jacob's passport is sorted sent off on a Tuesday and returned to us on the Saturday!

We have paid the balance on the Anaheim house and the house in San Diego is due this week.

The boys are starting to get excited and are talking about it alot more, thats probably because I never shut up about it
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Old 26 Mar 15, 09:30 PM  
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Well with only 2 more sleeps to go, I thought I would add the final piece to our pre-trip.

The boys are super excited and have been counting down the sleeps for a while. In fact we are thinking of changing the title of our trip report to 'How many sleeps?'

Lee and I both have tomorrow off to finish off the last bits and bobs. The main job is to pick up our dollars. The boys are at school/playgroup so after we pick them up we can hopefully have a nice relaxing evening at home before the chaos begins!

We have just about finalised our plan for when we arrive, here is a brief run down.

Sat 28th March - Leave Coventry for Heathrow around 8am, drop off car at Purple Parking then head to check in for our 3.30pm flight to LAX with Air New Zealand.
Hopefully arrive at LAX at 8pm, then get picked up by Prime Time Shuttles and get dropped off at Funtierland 2 at around 11pm.
This is the day I am dreading!

Sun 29th March - Pick up hire car from DTD - then explore and probably visit Walmart to stock up. The boys will definitley hit the pool

Mon 30th March - Have a gentle start at KNOTTSBERRY FARM, hopefully eat at Mrs Knotts aswell.

Tues 31st - Visit the outlets (Orange, Irvine Spectrum Centre? )

Wed 1st April - DISNEYLAND - plan to get there for opening as we know it will be mega busy. We aim to go on the rides that we haven't experienced in Disneyworld.

Thu 2nd April - CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE - Same as Disneyland really get there early and head to Carsland. We have followed the DIBB busy guide so hopefully the wait times will be managable.

Fri 3rd April - SANTA MONICA - bit of beach time

Sat 4th April - At the moment this is a spare day, may be have a BBQ

Sun 5th April (Easter Sunday - We couldn't avoid the parks for the whole weekend so we are going to UNIVERSAL STUDIO'S, again we are hoping the Busy Day guide is right again.

Mon 6th April - Leave Anaheim and head to San Diego, on the way we are going to LEGOLAND

Tue 7th April - SEAWORLD

Weds 8th April - USS MIDWAY and SEAPORT VILLAGE

Thurs 9th April - SAN DIEGO ZOO

Fri 10th April - Spare day at the moment but lots of ideas. Hopefully meet up with AIMS in the evening at the Corvette Diner

Sat 11th April - CORONADO ISLAND

Sun 12th April - SAFARI PARK

Mon 13th April - LA JOLLA

Tue 14th April - Leave San Diego - Head back to DISNEYLAND/CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE to park hop and spend final full day at Disney. Staying at ANABELLA hotel for the final night

Wed 15th April - May be do some shopping at DTD before heading to LAX for 4.45pm flight home

If anybody see's anything we have missed out or has any ideas on how we can improve the plan, please comment.

As always I write the trip reports for us to look back on and for Jacob and Lucas to be able to read about them when they are older but if anybody else enjoys reading them or gets any tips then thats great too.

We are very much looking forward to this trip and experiencing all the new things that we have planned.

We have been checking the weather daily for the last week and that looks good so everything is in place for us.

I look forward to writing a full trip report on our return

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Old 27 Mar 15, 11:31 AM  
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Your plans sound great. I'm really looking forward to reading your trippie. We are doing a West Coast road trip in August and will be spending a few days in San Diego, so excited to read about your time there.
Happy holidays, have a fab time!

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Old 27 Mar 15, 02:59 PM  
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Your itinerary looks wonderful, Kerry! I'm really looking forward to meeting you at dinner in San Diego. I noticed you don't have Old Town Historic State Park on your list, so I'm throwing that suggestion in for your spare day on the 10th. Going to the Cabrillo National Monument and the old Lighthouse in Point Loma would also be a great place to spend some time. Maybe you're already considering these though.

Tomorrow is the big day now! Bon voyage and safe travels! We'll be in touch once you get to San Diego.
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Old 28 Mar 15, 02:00 PM  
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It all sounds just wonderful and today is the day Hope you all have a brilliant holiday
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Old 11 Apr 15, 06:19 PM  
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Hope you are all having a wonderful time. Can't wait to read all about your trip as we are considering going next Easter.
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