"Help the Yankee DISer" Part II-visit Australia/DL-the PTR(8/19 -TR Link Post#263!)

[skier_pete]

Hopefully the sleep adjustment works a lot better for you than it did for me!

I think you are right, with the opening of Cars Land, it is probably better to save DCA for a day when you can get there before the park opens and be ready to go straight to Cars Land. If you try to time it leaving from DL and get stuck on a ride or something takes longer than you anticipated, you lose your advantage. Hopefully it all works out well for you! DL I would think will be pretty empty at 7 am, so if you can get there that early, you should be golden to get a lot of attractions done before the masses start arriving! And, it's definitely good that you can still use your FP's after the window there...makes for a much more relaxing afternoon when you can just use FP to get through the long lines that have built up! It was nice getting one more trip in where we could do that since we will not be able to in WDW anymore.

Yeah, never had much success with sleep adjustment - especially 3 hours, but we'll see.

It is definitely a bonus to use the FP after the window. We won't be going to WDW again til fall 2013, so I am hoping they have X-pass in by then, and we can take advantage of booking some FP - and then still get some as well. I think generally it won't be that bad, but you won't have that great advantage of going around all afternoon using FPs.

Anyways, on to the 3rd day!

 

[skier_pete]

...is DCA and Carsland! Now, with the new expansion at DCA there is a little hiccup being thrown at us by Disney. Each day is an EE day for BOTH parks, with one park open up early (7 AM) for DLR hotel guests, and the other park open for AP holders. Since we are neither, we only get one EE at Disneyland, which we used our first day, and NONE at DCA. So, my theory was that picking a day where its hotel guests that can get in early limits the # of people, so today is an EE for hotel guests @ DCA.

They get in a 7 AM, we can't get in until 8 AM. My thought is to get there 20-30 minutes before the park opens, and head right for the RSR fastpass machines. The FP machines aren't opening up until 8 AM, but they ARE running out of FP around 9 AM, so it will be our only chance to grab some.

We'll then head for Carsland and ride Luigis flying tires, assuming the wait time is <30 minutes, and then mater's Junkyard Jamboree. If the RSR stand-by wait isn't TOO long, (40 minutes or so) maybe we'll even give that a try. I think we might try breakfast at Flo's.

I think after that we will head over to Bug's Land. This is not headliner land by any means, but it sounds like with the summer crowds, the lines are long here and I don't want to wait in long rides for these stupid little rides. We'll be spinning FPs as well, probably after RSR it will be Grizzly River Rapids.

We have a lunch booked at Carthy Circle. That's the very nice restaurant on Beuna Vista Street. It's brand new first off, and then you also can get a FP for the World of Color with your meal, so combine two birds with one stone.

After lunch, I am not sure of the plan. I think it's likely we take another break back at the hotel at some point. I also want to see the Aladdin show and of course World of Color. Even with Carsland, I think this park has less interesting stuff to me the DL, but I also think there is enough to spend the day here.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Pete - I hope your plans at DL, DCA and CL works out for you. I gather that there have been crazy crowds because of CL.

 

[skier_pete]

Pete - I hope your plans at DL, DCA and CL works out for you. I gather that there have been crazy crowds because of CL.

It has been crazy - I have been paying a lot closer attention than I would have if we weren't going there. I'm trying not to stress about the crowds. It's three days of Disney we wouldn't otherwise have, so why worry.

 

[skier_pete]

...will be our 3rd day at Disneyland. I don't know what we will do or which park we will start at. If we totally love RSR we will probably go to get a FP first thing, and then perhaps head over to DL.

We will need to check out of the hotel at some point, and they will hopefully hold our bags. No mid-day break today because there is no hotel room to go back to. We have until about 6:55 PM to meet the shuttle to LAX.

Our flight leaves LAX at 10:30 PM. We will tired, we will hopefully all sleep a restful 6-7 hours on the plane. (One can only hope.)

To start the REAL adventure.

 

[PrincessInOz]

One month from today, you'll be planning to get on a flight to Australia.


Pete - If you haven't already planned for it, I would recommend that you have an early dinner before heading to LAX. You will/should get dinner served on the plane; but it might be close on midnight before that happens. You could always eat at LAX but the food options might be better around Anaheim.

 

[skier_pete]

One month from today, you'll be planning to get on a flight to Australia.


Pete - If you haven't already planned for it, I would recommend that you have an early dinner before heading to LAX. You will/should get dinner served on the plane; but it might be close on midnight before that happens. You could always eat at LAX but the food options might be better around Anaheim.

Yeah, I think we will likely eat before the shuttle, or pick up some food and eat while waiting for the shuttle. I've never spent much time in a Disney Park where I was left particularly hungry.

I don't know how it will work with that late a flight - how many meals do they typically serve on a flight? I can't imagine that we won't be passed out on that flight much before the plane gets above 10,000 feet. I really hope we can get a solid 6-7 hours of sleep.

 

[khertz]

Hopefully you get some sleep on the plane, you will need it! I remember flying back from Hawaii on a nighttime flight and I was so exhausted I passed right out. But every time I would stir and look over at DH, he was still wide awake watching movies. He just couldn't sleep! We had come off of a relaxing day in Hawaii though, I'm sure a full day at DL will have the three of you more than ready for some sleep, even if it is on a plane! I can't speak from more than our experience on that flight, but I think they served a snack at the beginning of the flight and breakfast in the morning.

 

[skier_pete]

...doesn't exist! We leave LAX on 7/24 and arrive in Sydney on 7/26, so an abbreviated 7/25 will exist in dreamland over the Pacific Ocean.

 

[khertz]

...doesn't exist! We leave LAX on 7/24 and arrive in Sydney on 7/26, so an abbreviated 7/25 will exist in dreamland over the Pacific Ocean.

That's kind of awesome! You figured out time travel!

 

[PrincessInOz]

You should get 2 meals served - dinner and breakfast. There usually is a choice of mains for dinner (served hot) and a choice of a hot breakfast or a cold/cereal type option in the morning. If you have any special food requirements or want something for DD, you will need to let the airlines know at least 3 - 5 days beforehand.

And in between, there should be "snacks" e.g., icecream or something.

 

[skier_pete]

That's kind of awesome! You figured out time travel!

Traveling forward in time is easy - we do it every day. It's backwards that's the tricky thing! (Saving that for the end of the trip.)

You should get 2 meals served - dinner and breakfast. There usually is a choice of mains for dinner (served hot) and a choice of a hot breakfast or a cold/cereal type option in the morning. If you have any special food requirements or want something for DD, you will need to let the airlines know at least 3 - 5 days beforehand.

And in between, there should be "snacks" e.g., icecream or something.

Ugh - there's no way I'm going to want dinner when I get on the plane - I'm gonna want to sleeep. Don't care what the food choice are either - just give me something to keep me alive!

 

[skier_pete]

OK, so I'm going to ignore the time difference here. So, I'm going to consider one month from today to be 7/26 in Australia - and going forward assume the same. so, here we go.

....we are scheduled to land at Sydney airport at 6:55 AM - which to us will be roughly mid-day. Our first task will be finding our hotel. We've gotten some advice to stay at the airport and let morning commuter traffic have their way. I am not sure how long clearing customs and getting our bag will take - but depending on if we are hungry, perhaps we will get something to eat before leaving the airport.

There is a train service that leaves right from the airport and drops off at Circular Quay. The cost is around $60 AUS for the three of us one way. The train station is shown (according to my google map walking trek) about 400 meters (1000 feet) from the hotel we are staying at, so my initial instinct is maybe to walk to the hotel, but I think until we see what our bags will be like for transport, we may choose a taxi, as it can't cost that much to go such a short distance.

It's unlikely our room will be ready when we arrive, and exactly what we will do will depend a lot on how we feel. If we can check in early perhaps a short nap will be in order. One thought I had was to go to the Sydney Aquarium. It's something that would likely keep DD attention really well and keep her awake. My hope is to maybe (with or without a nap) keep everyone up until at least 7 PM. This might be difficult, as 7 PM will be 2 AM california time. Ugh, I am just not sure how to handle the time change.

Anyways, we might do a little bit of grocery shopping as well. Hoping to save a bit of money by eating some meals in. Basically do a little exploring of the area of the Rocks and immediate surroundings. Its really hard to tell how we will respond to the whole thing. Maybe we will be all wide awake with excitement because our big adventure is truly starting!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Sounds like a good settling into Oz routine day for you. I hope you all get some sleep on the plane.

 

[skier_pete]

OOK! I missed a day. Darn work getting in the way!

So one month from yesterday (Friday, July 27th). I think we will do something involving a harbor cruise. I really can't say I have made super concrete plans for these four days - but I'm thinking that will be a low stress day. Again, we will probably still be adjusting to the time change.

One month from today (Saturday, July 28th) one of the nice DISers on the boards here (I will refrain from naming names) has offerred to be our host for the day. (Thank you so much!) So hopefully we will get a local's view of the beautiful city and surroundings. Another reason why I lean towards the harbor cruise on Friday, as that doesn't seem to need a "host" to me. (Note: this is also the day of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics - which I guess would occur early in the morning in Sydney if I have my timing right. We usually don't watch a ton of summer Olympics. (More of a winter Olympic sports fan.) So, I don't think we're going to try and watch too much. I would assume Sydney coverage would focus on Swimming and Beach Volleyball and whatever other sports Aussies excel at.

OK - getting off track...sorry. So, that's the two days I missed.

 

[skier_pete]

Again I missed yesterday! 7/29 which is a Sunday will be our last full day in Sydney. Don't know exactly the plans yet - as will depend a lot on what we've already done.

7/30 - I am figuring on today being the perfect day for the Sydney Opera House tour. The Essential Tour is a one-hour tour and will run about $80AUS for the three of us. A 9 AM start will get us done at 10 AM and back to the hotel. Our flight leaves from the airport at 3 PM for Melbourne, so I'm thinking we check out of the hotel by 11:30 or so we should be fine, the trains run every 8 minutes and only take about 20 minutes. We have some lunch before our flight. We are in Melbourne at 5:15 PM and will be going to DW friend's house. I imagine we will just be visiting for a bit (perhaps some laundry?) before settling down for the night.

 

[skier_pete]

Ha...so we spent some time the other day talking to our friends in Melbourne on Skype and making some rough plans for the week. Here's where we are at up to "one month from today".

Tuesday - July 31st, we will hang out with our friends and likely visit the city of Melbourne.

Wednesday - August 1st - I think this will be our day to go to the snow fields and ski. Likely a long day as it seems to be a 3-hour drive each day, but on my lifetime "bucket list" so sort of a must do.

Thursday - August 2nd (the actual 1-month from today) not sure pricisely what we will do during the day, but tentative plans in the evening to DIS meet with PrincessInOz and her family. See you in a month Princess!

 

[BecBennett]

Yay! I love holiday planning when it gets down to within a month!

 

[PrincessInOz]

A month to our DisMeet? WOW! Looking forward to it.

BTW - Looks like it could be a reasonable time for you to go skiing. It's been wet and cold and a bit of fresh snow fall. Hope it stays like this for you.

 

[khertz]

So awesome that you will have a local host to help you see the sights! Gotta love the DIS!

So I got a good laugh last night...Every few days DH turns to me with his laptop and says, "Wanna look at the new Vinyls with me?" And most of the time, I oblige and look at them. Last night I decided to look, and when he got to this one, I said, "I know who needs that one...Skier Pete!" Not so much for you but for DD.

As you can imagine, he looked at me like I was crazy until I mentioned your DD wanting a fruit bat stuffed animal on one of your trips. It's funny how those random little details are what stick out in my mind!