California Dreamin' - I'm back & TR started - UPDATED 14TH OCT

[Sarah84]

I'm in!! I've been to Disneyland a couple times and am so wanting to go back! And how cool you are going to San Diego as well. That's on my list of things to do too.

Can't wait to hear more about your plans! It's never too early for a PTR (I think I kind of started mine too early too but hey, gotta share the excitement with somebody!)

I've always wanted to go to San Diego it just looks such a nice place and well im coming all the way to LA & DL i firgured i couldn't not fit in SD aswell.

I agree do have to share the excitement with somebody and as my DBF won't get excited by Disney at all and not even for the holiday closer to the the time I only have all you lovely people on here to understand

I was reading from the beginning, like a good TR DIS reader, and the smking thing caught my eye. Two years ago, we took a car trip from Cheyenne Wyoming to DL (about 1100 miles). That's when I quit smoking. It was a lot easier for me to quit this way because we were in the car with the kids. I never smoked in the house or in the car. Well, won't bore you with the withdrawl tantrums and snapping at anybody that tried to speak to me. When we got to California, which is slowly becoming smoke free (if you get the chance go to DelMar, a totally smoke free town) I knew I could do it, because I didn't smell it and I was finally to the point of when I did, I gagged!! Pweww!! Any-who, sorry rambling....What I noticed and I not only thought it was hysterical but also humilating was that the "designating smoking section" of the parks were usually in a 10x10 box complete with a line painted around it to mark off the boudry!! Hysterical because, here are these grown adults puffing away in box marked by a line. Humiliating, beacause here are these grown adults puffing away in a box marked by a line. So, glad I don't smoke anymore just so I don't have to stand in a box to puff away!!!

OK, that being said....San Diego is an awesome place. My DH and I's old stomping ground before he was transferred here to Wyoming by the Air Force. The Gaslamp District is a blast. Good restuarants and awesome bars with live music!! The Horton Plaza (big huge outdoor shopping mall) validates parking so you can spend some time downtown. Sea Port Village (also in the downtown area) has some great eateries and it's a nice place to take a walk when the sun is setting. It's right on the bay. Coronado Island is beautiful. The bridge that takes you over is awesome and the hotel is historically grand. Look it up on the net. If you have any questions just ask away.

Woah 1100 miles, thats some drive how long did it take?
Well done on giving up smoking, i think everyone should do it

We plan to stay in a hotel in the Downtown/Gaslamp area maybe the Omni or something simular, we don't plan on having a car while in SD though the SD trolley seems pretty easy to use and to get to the Zoo & Seaworld and our other day, well half a day really will probably be spent just exploring the Gaslamp, downtown area and hopefully sometime to go over to Coronado Island

 

[charmama4]

The trip with 4 kids and one stop in Mesquite Nevada, took about 16 driving hours. The trip was nice, no tantrums (excepted mine), the kids had a portable DVD player and gameboys so they were set. I won't do it again though. Flying Soutwest is waaay cheaper than paying for gas while driving!!

The Omni looks incredible!!! I have stayed at the Horton Grand (Gaslamp area) once. It was a real nice historic Victorian hotel, real plush! Walking distance to some great party places. I love sitting and just people watching in the evenings. You can get some real characters walking around.

When you go please take pictures.

 

[Sarah84]

Well its some stupid hour of the night (well early morning, almost 4am) here in the UK and for some reason I dont feel tired at all so am spending my time doing what I love to do most being on the Dis and facebook
I watched the results show of American Idol earlier (we get it on a thursday & friday here) and was kind of surprised to see Scott go, I was hoping Lil would im not keen on her at all. Adam's performance was fantastic on thursday

So onto.......

The plan (first draft)​

Tuesday 1st September
Morning: 11.15am Virgin Atlantic flight London to LA
Afternoon: Fingerscrossed no delays, we should land around 14.35pm and will collect the car from LAX and drive to Sheraton Anaheim Hotel
Evening: Once we arrive at hotel we will unpack, have a shower and probably head to somewhere like Red Robin for dinner and pop to a store to get some bottles of drinks and sweets & crisps to keep in the room. Fingerscrossed we will be able to keep ourselves awake for as long as possible that 8 hour differance is going to be a killer i expect.

Wednesday 2nd September
Morning: Spend the morning at Laguna beach. Being a fan of MTV's Laguna beach, i couldn't go to Orange County and not take a visit there
Afternoon: Off to Newport beach, i love time just relaxing and soaking up the sun at the beach while im on holiday.
Evening:

Thursday 3rd September
Morning: Woohoo at last - Disneyland! for Magic Morning. I plan to make a PS for a 9.30 breakfast at Carnation cafe
Afternoon: We will probably leave the park around 1-2pm for a bit of a break (and to stop Darren moaning of being overloaded with Disney) maybe go back to the hotel for a bit after having lunch at ESPN Zone
Evening: Back into Disneyland around 5pm and stay till closing, grabbing some dinner at one of the counter service restaurants in there and hopefully the fireworks will be on and we will get to see those

Friday 4th September
Morning: Have a relaxing morning by the pool (more tanning time)
Afternoon: Head to Disneys California adventure about 1pm and stay for the rest of the day
Evening: Leave DCA at closing and go have dinner at Rainforest cafe

Saturday 5th September
Morning: Santa Monica
Afternoon: I'm sure we'll still be at the beach in Santa Monica till late afternoon
Evening: Dinner possibly at Tony Ramo's and maybe go to Gardenwalk

Sunday 6th September
Morning: Relax at the hotel pool
Afternoon: Head over to DCA again to do what we didn't get to the first time and anything we might want to see/ride again
Evening: Our last evening in Anahaeim and we will be spending it at Disneyland till closing, we might possibly book PS for Fantasmic

Monday 7th September
Morning: Leave about 9am for the drive to Las Vegas, should take about 4-5 hours?
Afternoon: Check into our hotel, The Mirage before heading to the premium outlets (after being in the US for a week, ill be dying to shop)
Evening: Then spend the night at one of Vegas Clubs, maybe Jet as its located in our hotel so ideal

Tuesday 8th September
Morning: Relax at hotel pool
Afternoon: Do what you must do in Vegas and go check out some of the fantastic hotels on the strip
Evening: carry on exploring the hotels, with the odd bit of gambling along the way

Wednesday 9th September
Morning: Relax at the pool
Afternoon:
Evening: I Have VIP passes for the Voodoo lounge at the Rio, ive read the views are fantastic from up there

Thursday 10th Septhember
Morning: ?
Afternoon: ?
Evening: ?

Friday 11th September
Morning: Fly to San Diego
Afternoon: Check into Hotel and explore SD
Evening:

Saturday 12th September
Morning: Seaworld
Afternoon: Seaworld (no doubt we will spend all day here)
Evening:

Sunday 13th September
Morning: San Diego Zoo
Afternoon: Again an all day thing, Darren loves Zoo's and is really excited to visit this one so we will probably spend many hours here
Evening:

Monday 14th September
Morning: Get Amtrak upto LA
Afternoon: Check into LA Hotel, Holiday inn express Hollywood and then explore local area checking out the usual touristy things
Evening: ?

Tuesday 15th September
Morning: Universal Hollywood
Afternoon: Universal Hollywood
Evening: ?

Wednesday 16th September
Morning: ?
Afternoon: ?
Evening: ?

Thursday 17th Septhember
Morning: ?
Afternoon: ?
Evening: The worst part of the holiday 20.55pm VA LAX - Heathrow flight home

As you can see i've held back and not completely planned everything minute for minute and have some times to fit in unplanned things or other things i might come across on the internet i want to see/do

 

[Sarah84]

The trip with 4 kids and one stop in Mesquite Nevada, took about 16 driving hours. The trip was nice, no tantrums (excepted mine), the kids had a portable DVD player and gameboys so they were set. I won't do it again though. Flying Soutwest is waaay cheaper than paying for gas while driving!!

The Omni looks incredible!!! I have stayed at the Horton Grand (Gaslamp area) once. It was a real nice historic Victorian hotel, real plush! Walking distance to some great party places. I love sitting and just people watching in the evenings. You can get some real characters walking around.

When you go please take pictures.

woah 16 hours that is a lonnnnng drive, i actually would love to take a big road trip in the US maybe one day

Oh believe me I will be taking PLENTY of pictures, so far I have 3 2gb memory cards and plan to fill them

 

[charmama4]

On your next trip here to the US I definitely would recommend a nice long drive through to somewhere. Wherever strikes your fancy. Lots to see here,ya know.
Read over your itenerary and it sounds like fun. I"m not a gambler, but the hubby and I love the Irish band at New York New York so we always catch them and have some Guiness (I call it bread in a bottle,LOL!). I miss being at the beach, it sucks being in a land locked state. Catch a few rays for me. Where are yo staying at DL? Hope you have some time to check out Balboa Park too. Great museums there and the botanic gardens are nice.

You have plenty of time to fill in the blanks of your plan. Your DBF is lucky, it sounds like all he has to do is show up!! You two will have a blast.

 

[Sarah84]

On your next trip here to the US I definitely would recommend a nice long drive through to somewhere. Wherever strikes your fancy. Lots to see here,ya know.
Read over your itenerary and it sounds like fun. I"m not a gambler, but the hubby and I love the Irish band at New York New York so we always catch them and have some Guiness (I call it bread in a bottle,LOL!). I miss being at the beach, it sucks being in a land locked state. Catch a few rays for me. Where are yo staying at DL? Hope you have some time to check out Balboa Park too. Great museums there and the botanic gardens are nice.

You have plenty of time to fill in the blanks of your plan. Your DBF is lucky, it sounds like all he has to do is show up!! You two will have a blast.

We will deffiently take a long drive in the US at some point, we're really looking forward to the Anaheim to Vegas drive and can't wait to see the desert.
We are staying at the Sheraton Anaheim, id di look at the Disneyland hotels (well the Disneyland hotel and Grand Californian) but considering the other hotels aren't that far away and the price differance it just wasn't worth it.

Haha its true thats pretty much he's job, well and handing over the cash for the trip when i need to book things he knows how much i enjoy doing the planning, plus he's so laid back he wouldnt bother looking into anything and just go with the flow when he gets there if it was all left to him

 

[charmama4]

The drive between Anaheim and LV can be beautiful at times. It's a growing area, that's for sure. You probably will see some construction in places. And in other places you'll have time to plan out some details of the LV trip, because there's nothing to look at!

I had to snicker a little on "handing over the cash"!! My DH just loves that part of MY planning But, hey they didn't have to do anything, no finding the right hotel, the budgeting of "how are we going to feed ourselves", the packing, the worry....So, you have a ggod man there!!!

 

[Sarah84]

So, Southwest airlines have finally released the flights for the date I needed so i can now get my Las Vegas to San Diego flights booked :thumbs-up

I'm going to get them booked today, its $139 for the 2 flights but now I just need to decide if I should book the 9.30am flight which gets into San Diego at 10.40am or the 12.25pm which gets in at 1.35pm, I was hoping there would be a flight about 11am but annoyingly there is a flight every hour from 7.30-9.30 then nothing untill 12.35? which is really stupid then after 12.30 the flights are every hour again from 1pm, typical

I think I'll go for the 12.25 flight just so we don't have to get up really early, we aren't exactly morning people although it would have been nice to get into SD earlier so we have a few more hours, i dont fancy getting up around 7am to make the earlier flight. After all we will be in Vegas and no doubt it could be a late night before

 

[Sarah84]

I have neglected this pre trippie quite a bit over the last month or so, mainly because i've run out of things to plan for.
I'm still waiting for those september hours to be released for the Disneyland parks, and most other things are already organised.
On a happy note though iam almost down to double digits 101 days till im in California woohoo so exciting.
I promise some updates will come soon ​

 

[wdwgirl03]

Yay for being close to double digits! That's a great feeling, it makes your trip seem that much closer.

Did you see the AI finale yet? I won't spoil it if you haven't...

 

[Sarah84]

Yay for being close to double digits! That's a great feeling, it makes your trip seem that much closer.

Did you see the AI finale yet? I won't spoil it if you haven't...

I know theres something about when your countdowns goes from the in the hundreds to DD, it all of a sudden feels so closer i just can't wait for those sigle digits

I see it last night, but it already had been spoiled for me i see it on the internet when i opened yahoo or something on thursday (before i had even seen the first show) I was really shocked at the results to be honest i really saw Adam winning and i kinda hoped he would, though i wasn't too disapointed cause as im sure i've mentione dbefore in your PTR i do like Kris to but talent wise Adam wins hands down. Kris just has that pretty face to look at aswell
What did you think of the results show?

 

[wdwgirl03]

I know theres something about when your countdowns goes from the in the hundreds to DD, it all of a sudden feels so closer i just can't wait for those sigle digits

I see it last night, but it already had been spoiled for me i see it on the internet when i opened yahoo or something on thursday (before i had even seen the first show) I was really shocked at the results to be honest i really saw Adam winning and i kinda hoped he would, though i wasn't too disapointed cause as im sure i've mentione dbefore in your PTR i do like Kris to but talent wise Adam wins hands down. Kris just has that pretty face to look at aswell
What did you think of the results show?

Ahh yeah, it was all over the internet. I was sort of surprised but then again I really wasn't. It seemed that Kris had been gaining momentum as they said and he probably did get a lot of Danny votes (personally I didn't vote at all). But the results show was really good!

 

[gemmybear83]

Great pre-trip Sarah. I really want to do a trip similar to yours in a couple of years Not too long to go now!

 

[Sarah84]

Great pre-trip Sarah. I really want to do a trip similar to yours in a couple of years Not too long to go now!

Thank you I know i can't believe its less than 3 months away now, its surprisingly coming around pretty quick. Just hoping the dollar rate goes up a bit more now before we go

 

[troobabiee7]

Hey Sarah! I just got all caught up again and your trip sounds amazing! You and your bf are going to love the west... it's almost here!

 

[Sarah84]

Hey Sarah! I just got all caught up again and your trip sounds amazing! You and your bf are going to love the west... it's almost here!

I know 84 days im getting way to excited now, i can't wait to see the West Caost & Vegas. I can't believe im going to be in Hollywood, and Disneyland California and chancing my luck at the casinos in Vegas and to be honest im just super excited to be back in America again, i love it so much

I really want to plan something good for Darren as i am praticually dragging him to Disneyland and to be honest most of this trip, well about 99.9% of it has all been my idea and what I'd like to do. Although he is really looking forward to visiting San Diego Zoo he loves animals. He's not really into American sports apart from Ice Hockey but unfortunately we will be there out of season though I know they have some pre season games in september so am hoping one will fit in with our trip, he also loves UFC so maybe there will be a fight on when we are there

I want to see a show while we are in Vegas too, i think i've mentioned before we have never really seen a show before and don't know if we'd really like them but The Lion King has started there now and i've always wanted to see the show so i thought it might be something good to do on one of our nights, or maybe i should hold off and see it in New York

Another exciting note, I think i've decided on the first weekend of june next year for a long weekend in NYC I know it agessss away yet but it will be our 4th anniversary so a great weekend to choose. We will probably be there thursday-monday. I always said i wanted to visit NY at xmas time, espcially after seeing home alone 2 but im abit too scvared of the cold

 

[Sarah84]

82 days to go ​

I can't believe its now only 82 days to go now till my trip and my box I have containing all my planning bits, print outs of bookings etc is getting nice and full.
Heres a picture of the box before i decorated it, it now has Disney stickers on it and silve rletter stickers saying California & Vegas 2009

I originally scribbled alot of notes about the trip with things like places to eat, things to see & do, driving directions etc in one of my cute Tinkerbell notebooks

Now the trip is getting a bit closer i picked out a notebook from my collection (i just love collecting notebooks & pens abit strange maybe haha but i love buying them) i ended up using the Tinkerbell one in the top corner. I've wrote all my notes that i scribbled down neatly, printed out maps, wrote a rough itinerary and of course will use the book while i'm away to makes notes for my trip report

A picture of just some of the notebooks i have

Money, Money, Money ​

So as the dollar rate seems to be going up and down abit over the last couple of weeks but is better than what it has been the last few months I decided to get some dollars for my trip today at a rate of $1.60-£1 and so far got $500 not quite as good as $2-£1 which is what it was last year but still an improvment to the $1.35 it dropped to earlier in the year, hopefully it will go up even more before our trip

 

[kaoden39]

Wow, you are less than three months away now. How wonderful and exciting. I love your notebooks. I am sure there will be tons at Disneyland for you to fall in love with too.

 

[Sarah84]

Wow, you are less than three months away now. How wonderful and exciting. I love your notebooks. I am sure there will be tons at Disneyland for you to fall in love with too.

I hope so, i can't go to Disney and not buy notebooks when i went to Disneyworld i came home with 4 or 5 and some great tinkerbell pens

 

[kaoden39]

I hope so, i can't go to Disney and not buy notebooks when i went to Disneyworld i came home with 4 or 5 and some great tinkerbell pens

My Mother cannot resist the pens. The last few trips we have gone on she has brought home bags of pens. And then she gives them out as gifts and such through the year. And they can be a great pick me up to for a person when they start the post trip blues.