California Adventure - Girly Trip July 2010

[Mazzy]

California Adventure - Girly Trip July 2010


Meet the Girls - well I'm getting on a bit, but still think of myself as a girl on good days!

Your Truly - 47 (ouch!) as most of you will know, Disney Mad, loves travelling, nice hotels, is a bit (OK a lot!) of a control freak, very immature person, but can switch 'Sensible Mum' mode on at the flick of a well-mascared eyelid!

DD Sam - will be 20 years old when we go, Uni student, loves her cuddly toys, especially Disney ones, animal lover, very exciteable, amazing sleeper truly loves her bed, but knows that on this trip she will have to get up before 12 noon!

Here's the two of us on our last Girly Trip, which was to WDW in Sept 2008, this is us in our Cowgirl outfits, riding BTMRR in the dark, at the MNSSHP!



We have a lot of fun together, and like a lot of the same things, and have a similar energy level, so we're planning to have as much fun on this trip as the last one!


Where we're going and what we're going to do

This trip is going to be done on a very tight budget, so I've used miles and discounts as much as I can to keep the costs down.


The night before our main flight, we're flying BMI from Manchester to Heathrow - completely free of charge - thank you Mr Tesco for contributing to my Airmiles account.

Staying at the Heathrow Travelodge overnight, for the grand sum of £29.

Then we'll take the Hoppa Bus from the hotel to the airport, ready to fly with VA to LA, I used miles for the flights, which made the flight prices only £215 each - very good!

We'll use Super Shuttle from the airport, as our first night we'll be staying in Anaheim, at the Hilton Anaheim, completely free of charge thanks to Airmiles yet again.
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It's got a really nice pool area, so we can just get a bite to eat and lounge around and try and stay awake until a reasonable time, lol. Some of the rooms have a view of the Disney parks, so we may get lucky.

Next morning we'll be picked up by luxbusamerica, who provide hotel to hotel shuttles, so will make it a lot easier than our original plan to use the Amtrak, and will be a bit quicker.


Arriving in San Diego, we are staying at the San Diego Marriott & Marina:
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Hoping for a view something like this:
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This is our one indulgence on this trip, as we wanted to have a view of the water with a balcony, and I realised by staying in the city over the weekend, the room prices dropped by $50 per night, so a quick shuffle of the itinerary and we are booked in for 4 nights here, Thursday to Sunday, at a brill rate of $187 plus tax.

In San Diego we are planning to visit the famous zoo, Coronado Island, Sea World (really just going for the sea otters!), visit the beaches, and there should be some music concerts going on over the weekend, and fireworks going off, which we should be able to see from our balcony.

Then it's back on Lux Bus again to Anaheim, where we're staying 5 nights at the Howard Johnson Anaheim - otherwise known by it's friendly name of the HOJO Anaheim.
hojoanaheim

I have got a great rate for this hotel, from the mousesavers website, only $109 per night plus tax, and will also be keeping my eye on the entertainment rates, to see if I can bring that down further.

In Anaheim we'll be visiting Disneyland - of course! - we'll have a 5 day ticket, so we can take our time having a good mooch around, as it will be pretty busy in July. We'll also be having some R 'n' R time, loungeing by the pool or sitting out on the balcony.

Then off we go again for our final night in LA which will be spent at the Renaissance Hollywood, renaissancehollywood Lux Bus will take us from HOJO to the Renaissance, and we'll have the afternoon/evening there and also most of our last day, as we won't need to leave for the airport until 5.15pm. Going to do the Movie Stars Homes Tour, Madame Tussauds, Farmers Market and anything else we can fit in!

Then it's back to LAX for our flight home, we're on the later flight which leaves at 21.05pm, so will arrive in Heathrow about 3pm the following afternoon, then we'll take a taxi to the Sheraton Skyline, we will try and stay awake until around 9pm but I get the feeling we might just flop as soon as we get in the room!

Following morning, after our buffet breakfast included in the rate, it's our flight with BMI back to Manchester.


This is the very final update, lol, and yes, Sarah, if you're reading this, it really is! I've cancelled all other hotel dates booked, it was wearing me down keep chopping and changing, so it's set in stone now, and I feel happy I've got the best deals on the hotels etc.

Only a few more days and I'll be doing the double digit dance!

[Cyclospora]

Sounds great Mazzy! We'll be in San Diego a few weeks after you and plan to go to the places that you will be visiting. Looking forward to your trippy already!

[DisneyMadAng]

Sounds fantastic Mazzy. I envy you going away with just your DD! I keep trying to do that with mine but DH and DS always manage to tag along lol...well ok did manage DLP for a few days once. It was lovely...no moans and groans.

[Mazzy]

Originally Posted by Cyclospora

Sounds great Mazzy! We'll be in San Diego a few weeks after you and plan to go to the places that you will be visiting. Looking forward to your trippy already!

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A trippy? Do you not know my record with getting trippys finished? Where are you staying in San Diego?

[Mazzy]

Originally Posted by DisneyMadAng

Sounds fantastic Mazzy. I envy you going away with just your DD! I keep trying to do that with mine but DH and DS always manage to tag along lol...well ok did manage DLP for a few days once. It was lovely...no moans and groans.

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Well, it was meant to be a family trip, but due to lack of funds, DH stepped down and said for me and the teens to go, but Dan didn't want to come, he'd rather stay at home with his dad, lol, I think he's been a bit spoilt with all the trips we've done in the past years, he's been to WDW 10 times, New York and also California, and 3 trips to DLP, and he's only 16, so anyway, that's how it ended up being a Girly Trip, I would have loved him to come, but it had to be his decision, didn't want to drag him along when he really didn't want to go. We're hoping to take another family trip to New York in the future, as the boys really love New York.

[Cyclospora]

Humphrey Half Moon - after reading trippies!

[lausan]

Not doing much then Mazzy...lol
looks amazing

[Mazzy]

Originally Posted by Cyclospora

Humphrey Half Moon - after reading trippies!

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Oh yes, it looks really good, we were considering staying there at first, but it's not an ideal location for us with not having a car, but it does look really nice and other Dibbers have been really happy with it.

[Sarah84]

Well your plans have changed again since we last spoke, now theres a surprise you've dropped the Hollywood hotel all together?
Glad to see you starting a pre trippie i'll be reading along and becoming jealous the more & more it gets closer but i won't get my hopes up for a full trip report when you get home, not if your past record of getting them finished is anything to go by

[Jools]

That's a great trip you have planned Mazzy

We stayed at the hilton Anaheim in 2006. It really was a fabulous hotel. Starbucks in the lobby, a great restaurant for breakfast and the pool area was lovely.

Have fun