I always said I wanted to do a trip report as a pay it forward for all the trip reports I read on DIS Boards that were so helpful in planning our trip. However, it is such a daunting task! Ive decided Ill start small and list our itinerary and maybe a few helpful tips. Then well see where it goes from there! Our trip was back in June, so it might take me a little bit to remember the details!
The cast includes me, DH, DS7, and DS5 travelling from Central KY. This was an AWESOME trip!! Ill admit it was an exhausting trip at times - even though I tried to make sure we had afternoon rests and some low key days. Of course, there wasnt enough time to do everything we wanted, but we definitely made the most of our time in California. My boys were troopers! I will also say that we paid for convenience because I wanted to make sure we made the most of this (most likely) once in a lifetime trip. But, we were able to save some $$$ on several things along the way thanks to the many tips I found in my year and a half of research and planning!
So this whole trip idea was sparked on the way home from our Disneyworld Spring Break 2011 vacation. We had also been the previous Spring Break as well. I thought the second trip would satisfy my Disney parks craving for a while; however it only made me want to start planning another trip even more. And the sooner the better! With the Fantasyland renovations coming up at WDW, and the opening of Carsland at DL I thought it would be great time to make our first visit to DL. My husband only tolerates Disney and the parks, so I knew I would have to add something to the trip to convince him to go along with the plan. Thats where we added in the National Parks. Then why not add San Diego to the itinerary while were in California?? Ive always wanted to go there too! And to top it all off, I found during my trip planning that the Legoland Hotel was opening just weeks before our trip. So of course that had to be added too!!
ITENERARY:
Saturday: Flew Cincinnati to Fresno. Rented car. Stayed in Tulare at Hampton Inn
Sunday: Drove to Sequoia. Entered at Foothills Visitor Center. Stayed Wuksachi Lodge
Monday: Finished touring Sequoia. Exited at Grant Grove/Kings Canyon Visitor Center. Drove to Yosemite. Stayed at Yosemite Lodge at the Falls
Tuesday: Yosemite
Wednesday: Yosemite
Thursday: Finished touring Yosemite and drove back to Fresno. Stayed at Hampton Inn and Suites Clovis Airport North
Friday: Flew Fresno to San Diego. Rented car. Sea World. Stayed Hilton San Diego Bayfront
Saturday: Coronado Island day trip. Sea World that evening to catch night-time shows
Sunday: San Diego Zoo. Drove to Carlsbad. Stayed Legoland Hotel
Monday: Legoland
Tuesday: Drove to Anaheim. Returned rental car. Disneyland. Stayed Paradise Pier Hotel.
Wednesday: Disneyland/California Adventure
Thursday: Disneyland/California Adventure
Friday: Disneyland/California Adventure
Saturday: shuttle to LAX. Flew back to Cincinnati (non-stop flight) and drove back to the Bluegrass
The cast includes me, DH, DS7, and DS5 travelling from Central KY. This was an AWESOME trip!! Ill admit it was an exhausting trip at times - even though I tried to make sure we had afternoon rests and some low key days. Of course, there wasnt enough time to do everything we wanted, but we definitely made the most of our time in California. My boys were troopers! I will also say that we paid for convenience because I wanted to make sure we made the most of this (most likely) once in a lifetime trip. But, we were able to save some $$$ on several things along the way thanks to the many tips I found in my year and a half of research and planning!
So this whole trip idea was sparked on the way home from our Disneyworld Spring Break 2011 vacation. We had also been the previous Spring Break as well. I thought the second trip would satisfy my Disney parks craving for a while; however it only made me want to start planning another trip even more. And the sooner the better! With the Fantasyland renovations coming up at WDW, and the opening of Carsland at DL I thought it would be great time to make our first visit to DL. My husband only tolerates Disney and the parks, so I knew I would have to add something to the trip to convince him to go along with the plan. Thats where we added in the National Parks. Then why not add San Diego to the itinerary while were in California?? Ive always wanted to go there too! And to top it all off, I found during my trip planning that the Legoland Hotel was opening just weeks before our trip. So of course that had to be added too!!
ITENERARY:
Saturday: Flew Cincinnati to Fresno. Rented car. Stayed in Tulare at Hampton Inn
Sunday: Drove to Sequoia. Entered at Foothills Visitor Center. Stayed Wuksachi Lodge
Monday: Finished touring Sequoia. Exited at Grant Grove/Kings Canyon Visitor Center. Drove to Yosemite. Stayed at Yosemite Lodge at the Falls
Tuesday: Yosemite
Wednesday: Yosemite
Thursday: Finished touring Yosemite and drove back to Fresno. Stayed at Hampton Inn and Suites Clovis Airport North
Friday: Flew Fresno to San Diego. Rented car. Sea World. Stayed Hilton San Diego Bayfront
Saturday: Coronado Island day trip. Sea World that evening to catch night-time shows
Sunday: San Diego Zoo. Drove to Carlsbad. Stayed Legoland Hotel
Monday: Legoland
Tuesday: Drove to Anaheim. Returned rental car. Disneyland. Stayed Paradise Pier Hotel.
Wednesday: Disneyland/California Adventure
Thursday: Disneyland/California Adventure
Friday: Disneyland/California Adventure
Saturday: shuttle to LAX. Flew back to Cincinnati (non-stop flight) and drove back to the Bluegrass