Instead of a trip report, I'll do a 'things to remember' report, as it will benefit some people here more than just hearing about my trip.
First of all we flew V Australia from MEL to LAX. All went well and we arrived on time in LAX.
We went straight to the Purple Rental Shuttle Sign at LAX and took the National Car Rental bus to their dispatch centre.
Fuss free, just needed an Australian Drivers Licence (not International) and a credit card.
Just watch out for them trying to give you a vehicle class lower than what you paid for. I booked a Chevy Tahoe and they tried to give me a Standard SUV. I questioned them on it and it was an 'honest mistake'.
As I was renting a car on three different occasions throughout the trip, I bought my own GPS with a US map. I highly recommend doing this as I was familiar with it and had pre-programmed in all our locations before I left Australia. All I had to do was switch it on and point it to my first pre-programmed destination (Santa Monica / Malibu).
I went straight to the West Hills Walmart (already in the GPS) and purchased two prepaid mobile phones with 300 minutes credit for $40 each.
I also used the ANZ USD Travel Card EVERYWHERE! It was great.
We stayed at the Renaissance on Hollywood and Highland. It was a great hotel and we had a good view of the Hollywood Sign. The only downside was parking, which was $10 a day or more if you went in and out all the time.
24 hours before leaving for Orlando, I checked in online with Delta and prepaid my checked luggage. The Renaissance has a computer downstairs so you can check-in and print out your boarding passes for free!
At LAX, all we had to do was go straight to the bag drop and show our passports and boarding passes, nice and easy.
When it was time to leave LA, I dropped the family off at the airport with the suitcases and drove the car to National, catching the bus back to LAX. A far easier option than lugging the suitcases on and off the National bus. I should have done that when I arrived.
Flight to Orlando was good, bring your own headphones because they charge you $2 for theirs! They also have inflight Wi-Fi, so you can surf the net to pass the time.
We didn’t get our WDW Travel tags in time so we had to take our luggage on the Disney Magical Express with us. It wasn’t a hassle at all and I tipped the driver $10 for handling 5 suitcases. 45 minutes later we were in the Wilderness Lodge and checked in.
We spent 7 days at WDW and if I did it again, I’d stay 10 – 14 days. We were rushed to see everything and would have liked to relax a little more. We were also on the Dining Plan which was an excellent service. We had left over QS’s at the end as there was plenty to eat at the Character Buffet’s.
I’d definitely recommend staying at the Wilderness Lodge, even the cold early morning boat rides were fun! DTD is about a 22 minute bus ride, but again, I was on holiday, so it didn’t really bother me.
We rented anther car at National, this time driving to Islands of Adventure and Kennedy Space Center, both pre-programmed into our GPS.
We had a 7 am flight out of Orlando to LAX and was picked up by DME at 4am. FUN!
On arrival at LAX we took the Disneyland Resort Express to the DLH and checked in. We were lucky enough to get a newly renovated room in the Dreams Tower. Very Nice.
I noticed that DLR visitors don’t use the fastpass system nearly as much as the visitors to WDW, so we took the advantage and I ended up with fastpasses bursting out of my pockets. LOL.
The DLR castle is SO much smaller than WDW, I dare to say it was disappointing (it wasn’t really, just a shock at the difference). WDW is a resort machine, where DLR is just an awesome theme park. I can’t say one is better than the other, just that you have to do both, as they give different experiences. I went to the Magic Kingdom on Tuesday and DL on Wednesday, so I could definitely appreciate the difference.
We then took the Disneyland Resort Express back to LAX and hired another National Rental Car, driving to Las Vegas. Vegas was what I expected, but not being a gambler, it was more for the novelty value. We stayed at the Venetian. If I went again, I’d stay at the Bellagio.
We did a day drive to the Grand Canyon South Rim, taking Route 66 and stopping at Hoover Dam. It was snowing up at the Canyon which made the experience even more memorable. It was a long day of driving, 6 hours there and 5 back, but worth it.
I’ve missed a ton, but you get the general idea, I’m sure if your trip is planned with some of these things, you’ll ask a question to jog my memory.
Good luck with all your upcoming trips!
I’m planning the next one, 2011 here we come……
First of all we flew V Australia from MEL to LAX. All went well and we arrived on time in LAX.
We went straight to the Purple Rental Shuttle Sign at LAX and took the National Car Rental bus to their dispatch centre.
Fuss free, just needed an Australian Drivers Licence (not International) and a credit card.
Just watch out for them trying to give you a vehicle class lower than what you paid for. I booked a Chevy Tahoe and they tried to give me a Standard SUV. I questioned them on it and it was an 'honest mistake'.
As I was renting a car on three different occasions throughout the trip, I bought my own GPS with a US map. I highly recommend doing this as I was familiar with it and had pre-programmed in all our locations before I left Australia. All I had to do was switch it on and point it to my first pre-programmed destination (Santa Monica / Malibu).
I went straight to the West Hills Walmart (already in the GPS) and purchased two prepaid mobile phones with 300 minutes credit for $40 each.
I also used the ANZ USD Travel Card EVERYWHERE! It was great.
We stayed at the Renaissance on Hollywood and Highland. It was a great hotel and we had a good view of the Hollywood Sign. The only downside was parking, which was $10 a day or more if you went in and out all the time.
24 hours before leaving for Orlando, I checked in online with Delta and prepaid my checked luggage. The Renaissance has a computer downstairs so you can check-in and print out your boarding passes for free!
At LAX, all we had to do was go straight to the bag drop and show our passports and boarding passes, nice and easy.
When it was time to leave LA, I dropped the family off at the airport with the suitcases and drove the car to National, catching the bus back to LAX. A far easier option than lugging the suitcases on and off the National bus. I should have done that when I arrived.
Flight to Orlando was good, bring your own headphones because they charge you $2 for theirs! They also have inflight Wi-Fi, so you can surf the net to pass the time.
We didn’t get our WDW Travel tags in time so we had to take our luggage on the Disney Magical Express with us. It wasn’t a hassle at all and I tipped the driver $10 for handling 5 suitcases. 45 minutes later we were in the Wilderness Lodge and checked in.
We spent 7 days at WDW and if I did it again, I’d stay 10 – 14 days. We were rushed to see everything and would have liked to relax a little more. We were also on the Dining Plan which was an excellent service. We had left over QS’s at the end as there was plenty to eat at the Character Buffet’s.
I’d definitely recommend staying at the Wilderness Lodge, even the cold early morning boat rides were fun! DTD is about a 22 minute bus ride, but again, I was on holiday, so it didn’t really bother me.
We rented anther car at National, this time driving to Islands of Adventure and Kennedy Space Center, both pre-programmed into our GPS.
We had a 7 am flight out of Orlando to LAX and was picked up by DME at 4am. FUN!
On arrival at LAX we took the Disneyland Resort Express to the DLH and checked in. We were lucky enough to get a newly renovated room in the Dreams Tower. Very Nice.
I noticed that DLR visitors don’t use the fastpass system nearly as much as the visitors to WDW, so we took the advantage and I ended up with fastpasses bursting out of my pockets. LOL.
The DLR castle is SO much smaller than WDW, I dare to say it was disappointing (it wasn’t really, just a shock at the difference). WDW is a resort machine, where DLR is just an awesome theme park. I can’t say one is better than the other, just that you have to do both, as they give different experiences. I went to the Magic Kingdom on Tuesday and DL on Wednesday, so I could definitely appreciate the difference.
We then took the Disneyland Resort Express back to LAX and hired another National Rental Car, driving to Las Vegas. Vegas was what I expected, but not being a gambler, it was more for the novelty value. We stayed at the Venetian. If I went again, I’d stay at the Bellagio.
We did a day drive to the Grand Canyon South Rim, taking Route 66 and stopping at Hoover Dam. It was snowing up at the Canyon which made the experience even more memorable. It was a long day of driving, 6 hours there and 5 back, but worth it.
I’ve missed a ton, but you get the general idea, I’m sure if your trip is planned with some of these things, you’ll ask a question to jog my memory.
Good luck with all your upcoming trips!
I’m planning the next one, 2011 here we come……
, it's a very easy drive along a couple of highways and VERY easy to find. The second big shuttle parked out the front......the first is the Astronaut's hall of fame.
)
