I was so wrong!

Finally, the big day arrives.

We were at Sydney Airport 2.5 hours prior to departure. While we were standing in line for Check-In, I noticed that Gab was very quiet. Suddenly, he said "Mum, i want to vomit!" Good heavens, no!

I thought my days of puke management is behind me ... I was dead wrong. My 10 year old and I ran headlong to the toilets. Alas we did not quite make it. Let's just say we made a pretty bad mess right outside the door. I forced myself to remain calm. I swallowed the expletives and showed Gab that I was not upset with him. Logic escapes me! We all ate the same thing the whole day. I must say that historically, Gab always fell ill during our travels. Be it domestic (at Gold Coast) or overseas. mmm let's just say that his record remain untarnished. Fortunately, the airport cleaners were already cleaning the hallway when we finally ventured out.

I was firm in my resolve that we are traveling on. Fortunately, Gambit did not say anything otherwise. I was praying that Gab will feel better after the episode. But just in case, I whipped out a sandwich zipped bag (yes, for some reason I had plenty of those in my handcarry!) and had it ready in my pocket.

ZIPPED BAG TO THE RESCUE!

My foresight saved me. At final boarding, Gab had another episode. All went to the zipped bag. People must have noticed and must have stared at us, I don't know! I serenely zipped the bag safe from spills and joined the queue for the airplane. One boy had his eyes transfixed on my package. I think I had an out of body experience!

I was staring at a very dark tunnel ahead ...

Ride Max explained

About.com is a complete website to research just about anything! I alternated between About.com and Trip Advisor for really good feedback. About.com has full of information on Disneyland. It correctly advises that if you spend thousands of dollars for this once in a lifetime trip (for most people), you do not want to spend hours of your time falling in line and waiting! This is a reality in most theme parks, but most people forget it!

Click here.

And here.

About.com suggests spending a very small fee (~ US$15 for 90 days) for a statistical 'planning' software called Ride Max.

The Ride Max blurb:

RideMax is a computer software program guaranteed to help you save time waiting in line at Walt Disney World and Disneyland.

RideMax allows you to specify the attractions you wish to ride during your visit, then uses a sophisticated scheduling algorithm to order your attractions so that the amount of time you spend in line is minimized.

Using historical wait time statistics for each attraction as a foundation, RideMax analyzes millions of different ride sequences in order to create a minimum-wait-time itinerary. This schedule is tailored to the expected crowd patterns on the day of your visit, for the attractions you want to ride!

The key is to decide which rides to visit at Disneyland Park and Disneyland California Adventure. Then all you have to do is tell the software which rides you want to go on, schedule breaks, decide on duration of visit and voila! it prints out your timetable. For the organised person (with kids), this is pure bliss. Note that the software does not allow for Sunday visits. It advises to use the Saturday schedule instead. Also, shows and parades are not included. You have to specify "scheduled breaks" around shows and allow sufficient time (20-30 mins.) before the start of the show to walk to the venue and get a good spot. It is also a good idea to make multiple itineraries with different start times. You have to be realistic in deciding what time you will be at Disney's gates. Ride Max advises to queue 30 minutes before the gates open (shocks!). Disney opens at 8:00am and DCA opens at 10:00am. Do print-out each park's Calendar of Activities. I have 5 different starts for Disney Park - 8am, 8:15am, 8:30am, 8:45am, and 9am. I also had a separate itinerary for an evening visit. We will certainly have mid-afternoon breaks back at the hotel.

The last week before the big trip.

My last week at work before the big holiday was frantic. I had to work a couple of nights. And I was panicking about my theme park bookings. All the hotels and car hire are booked, but I was debating about booking Disneyland and Legoland tickets online. I read in Trip Advisor that most hotels have discount vouchers. I convinced myself that it is better to get things done, than having to worry about it later. However, I only booked events that are must-see's. These are Disneyland, Legoland and Medieval Times. The visits to Yosemite, Monterey Aquarium, LA Tour and Pirates Dinner Adventure are all optional. I shall purchase those during the trip for certainty. Travelling with children makes life unpredictable.

For car rental, I trusted Hotwire for their deals. Hotwire will not ask nor charge your credit card. Instead, you pay the rental agency upon return of the vehicle. The cheapest deal was for an Enterprise car @$20.00 per day for a mid-size vehicle. The catch was that they seem not to allow a return of the car to a different location. Later, I was told that this is available for a whopping $75.00! I decided to just return the car early, and go to Avis. From memory, they never charged me a one-way fee. It is a good idea to go to the rental agency's website and print its details (address, directions, telephone numbers and hours of operation). Note that some agencies close early on Saturdays and are close on Sundays.

Here is a list of what I printed out. Having the magical iPhone, I also transferred all my pdf's from laptop to iPhone by using a free app called 'Discover'.

1 - Airtickets

2 - ESTA (Visa Waiver)

3 - all hotel bookings

4 - all car hire bookings and location details

5 - all theme park/event tickets

6 - Travel Insurance PDS

7 - 2 x Copies of passport (one went to Gambit's bag, the other left with friends/relatives)

8 - all RideMax itineraries (more on Ride Max in a separate post)

9 - Park hours and calendar of shows, events and parades on the day of visit

10 - Copy of credit card statement (if Travel Insurance is included in your credit card airfare purchase)

11 - Printout or a list of all essential addresses (groceries, chemists/pharmacies, good restaurants, shopping outlets you want to visit and the like)

I decided against booking a car hire upon arrival at LA airport. V Australia will arrive at 4pm. The 1.5 hour trip from LA to Oceanside is riddled with tiredness, lack of sleep, darkness, unknown roads and left-hand driving. I was hoping for either a taxi or a shared ride of some sort. I will pay gladly for the convenience.

MONEY MATTERS

We opted to bring a combination of cash, Traveller's Checks and the Commonwealth Bank's Travel Money Card (Mastercard). The TCs and the money card (which is a debit card in reality) were both welcomed. Just remember to hit the 'credit card' button for the money card transactions. For although it is a a debit card, it is treated as a credit card. Go figure!

Golden Gate Bridge

Awesome isn't it?

This image replaced the Mickey Mouse picture of my wallpaper.

Like I always say: Thoughts become things!

Our itinerary ...

Deciding on our itinerary was the most fun aspect of the preparation. Having been to California (San Jose side) when I was still single (on a training trip paid for by the company i worked for at that time), I have a pretty good idea where i wanted to bring my family.

First up is Legoland. We are staying near Legoland at Carlsbad (near San Diego) for a good one week. I am quite keen on Legoland. So are the two boys!

Next up is Disneyland at Anaheim. I am contemplating just a two-day hopper ticket as we are not really a 'rides' family. So three nights at Anaheim.

Then we are driving up the west coast to Monterey. This will be a 6 to 8 hour drive (gotta get a hire car with cruise control). I have been to Monterey before and the Aquarium is a must-see. Cannery Row, Carmel, Pebble Beach ... these are the places I want to show my husband around. This is the part of our holiday that is more for grown-ups than for kids. A good three night stay at Monterey should do it.

Then finally, a drive up to San Francisco. I am planning to stay in a hotel at Fisherman's Wharf with a view of the Golden Gate bridge. Now that would be a sight to behold. Four nights at San Francisco, the last leg of our trip. I think by this time we will be so tired of driving. The visit to Yosemite will most likely be an organised tour rather than self-drive!

Comparing airfares ...

It is too time consuming to visit each airline's website to research timetables and fares. I alternated between Webjet and Expedia to compare prices and view seat availability. Expedia allowed multi-trips, very handy if you want to stopover somewhere and hit more than one country in one holiday.