Southern California (& Disneyland): Backstage Magic Meets Thread

[sayhello]

We just signed up for the June 7th tour. It will be my 8 year son and myself

Sorry, I'd missed your post! I added you to the Roll Call on the first post of this thread. You are on the same departure as DISer @ssc021796 's group!

Sayhello

 

[ssc021796]

We just signed up for the June 7th tour. It will be my 8 year son and myself

Yeah! We are almost in single digits to this trip!

 

[Eeyore's the Best]

Hi, if you want to add us to the roll call, myself and my BFF Kathy (DISer Mickey's Best Gal) are signed up for the October Adults only trip. Very excited and are counting down the days, first time to Disneyland for both of us.

 

[White Rose]

Hi, if you want to add us to the roll call, myself and my BFF Kathy (DISer Mickey's Best Gal) are signed up for the October Adults only trip. Very excited and are counting down the days, first time to Disneyland for both of us.

My Hubby and I are signed up for Oct 11, 2015 - Oct 16, 2015 Adult Exclusive, too!! I called about a week ago to see how many were booked on that trip and they told me 10 were signed up, so if you booked afterwards we are probably at 12 now! We are east coasters, and we have been to Disneyland once...we were both sick...I got bronchitis! (when we landed in in San Diego, I started to feel bad and it just got worse - we did a CA driving trip starting in San Diego and ending in Anaheim 5 years ago.) I gave a bad cold to my hubby too. With all the cold meds we were on, we remember very little of the trip...so it's like we've never been there.

I am so excited and looking forward to the trip! Are you flying in the morning of the 11th, or coming in early? Did you book your airfare yet, and if so did you do it through ABD? We booked on our own, because my hubby used points to get us an upgrade. This is our first ABD! Where are you guys coming from? Sorry for all the questions, can you tell I'm excited??

We are flying from PHL on the 10th and staying near the airport on points. Our plan is to take the free shuttle from our hotel back to the airport if we have to, to get our transfer to the Loews. I guess when it gets closer we will work out the logistics! Afterwards we are staying at the GC for an extra night and then transferring to a hotel near the WB Studios, we are doing their tour that Monday!

Only 214 days to go! LOL

 

[sayhello]

Hi, if you want to add us to the roll call, myself and my BFF Kathy (DISer Mickey's Best Gal) are signed up for the October Adults only trip. Very excited and are counting down the days, first time to Disneyland for both of us.

I've added you to the Roll Call, and, as you can see, you're on the same departure as White Rose & her hubby!

Congrats!

Sayhello

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

My Hubby and I are signed up for Oct 11, 2015 - Oct 16, 2015 Adult Exclusive, too!! I called about a week ago to see how many were booked on that trip and they told me 10 were signed up, so if you booked afterwards we are probably at 12 now! We are east coasters, and we have been to Disneyland once...we were both sick...I got bronchitis! (when we landed in in San Diego, I started to feel bad and it just got worse - we did a CA driving trip starting in San Diego and ending in Anaheim 5 years ago.) I gave a bad cold to my hubby too. With all the cold meds we were on, we remember very little of the trip...so it's like we've never been there.

I am so excited and looking forward to the trip! Are you flying in the morning of the 11th, or coming in early? Did you book your airfare yet, and if so did you do it through ABD? We booked on our own, because my hubby used points to get us an upgrade. This is our first ABD! Where are you guys coming from? Sorry for all the questions, can you tell I'm excited??

We are flying from PHL on the 10th and staying near the airport on points. Our plan is to take the free shuttle from our hotel back to the airport if we have to, to get our transfer to the Loews. I guess when it gets closer we will work out the logistics! Afterwards we are staying at the GC for an extra night and then transferring to a hotel near the WB Studios, we are doing their tour that Monday!

Only 214 days to go! LOL

We are sooo excited about this trip! It's a 40th big day treat for us. I'm a huge disney nerd so actually being in a park that Walt himself walked in is beyond thrilling for me.

We will be coming in a day early as well (flights booked already as Nicole, AKA Eeyore's The Best, stalked the southwest site and as soon as flights for October dropped she went slightly crazy ) and I think we are leaning towards staying the night at the airport and shuttling back the next day for the transfer to Loews but as you said, we'll worry about logistics eventually.

We can't wait!

 

[White Rose]

We are sooo excited about this trip! It's a 40th big day treat for us. I'm a huge disney nerd so actually being in a park that Walt himself walked in is beyond thrilling for me.

We will be coming in a day early as well (flights booked already as Nicole, AKA Eeyore's The Best, stalked the southwest site and as soon as flights for October dropped she went slightly crazy ) and I think we are leaning towards staying the night at the airport and shuttling back the next day for the transfer to Loews but as you said, we'll worry about logistics eventually.

We can't wait!

It's our 12th anniversary on Oct 12! We usually travel on our anniversary, we are in our 40s.

We booked our flights early because originally hubby was going to book the new first class seats on JetBlue (called Mint), but they never came down in price. They have individual - nearly - rooms! They look like cubicles with lay down beds! But the price was too high (even with points) for upgrades. So instead hubby used all his points for something else that will be perfect, and when the fares were first released, very reasonable! Apparently we paid more for our flights to Orlando, and we are coming from the east coast...crazy!

We are staying at the Embassy Suites near the airport. Free airport shuttle, free buffet breakfast! As it gets closer, I'm sure ABD will be in touch to get our flight info, so we can just arrange for us to meet someone at the airport. We will probably be early because we will not have adjusted for the time change. I'm hoping we have time/energy to go around town before dinnertime.

 

[carpenta]

It is crazy what the cost of airfare is today. We just paid more to fly to Wyoming this coming June than we paid p.p. to go to Barcelona last year. No rhyme or reason in airfare I guess. Hope you have a great trip[.

 

[Eeyore's the Best]

Hi White Rose! As Mickeys Best Gal said, we are flying in a day earlier. We have to drive from Southern Ontario to buffalo the day before that and then we are flying out from there. We are currently booked a night before at the Loews but I would be interested in finding out about the Embassy Suites. What was the name of the hotel?

We are transferring out of the GC on the Friday and heading over to the Best Western Park Place we are staying for an extra 4 nights!

We actually ended up getting a really good deal on airfare, I'm a firm believer that the minute a flight becomes available through Southwest, book it! If it goes down they will give you a fare voucher for the difference.

Where are you guys coming from is PHL Philadelphia? And also we booked quite a while ago so we will be counted in that 10 count.

 

[White Rose]

Hi White Rose! As Mickeys Best Gal said, we are flying in a day earlier. We have to drive from Southern Ontario to buffalo the day before that and then we are flying out from there. We are currently booked a night before at the Loews but I would be interested in finding out about the Embassy Suites. What was the name of the hotel?

We are transferring out of the GC on the Friday and heading over to the Best Western Park Place we are staying for an extra 4 nights!

We actually ended up getting a really good deal on airfare, I'm a firm believer that the minute a flight becomes available through Southwest, book it! If it goes down they will give you a fare voucher for the difference.

Where are you guys coming from is PHL Philadelphia? And also we booked quite a while ago so we will be counted in that 10 count.

Good Afternoon Fellow ABD traveler!
(We are Pam and Jeff, BTW!)
Sometimes we will stay at the airport hotel in Philly if our flight is super early in the morning, but this time our flight is mid-afternoon. We are just going to drive to the airport from our home that morning.
Our before hotel is: Embassy Suites Los Angeles - International Airport/South (1 night)
We are staying an extra four nights, too! We are doing a lot of hotel jumping, to get the best rates and use my hubby's hotel points.
After the tour ends:
Grand Californian (2 extra nights) more DL/CA/relax time!
Tangerine Hotel in Burbank (1 Night) WB studio tour that Monday - This hotel looks very quirky and is redone from a boring motel to a chic modern boutique hotel. It gets amazing reviews on Trip Advisor. If it's too quirky...well - it's only one night.
Hyatt Place Los Angeles (1 night) and then fly home!

Our flights on USAir are costing us less then $100 for both of us, because my hubby used points, and we are going first class!!! My hubby has status with USAir because he is a business traveler. We are coming from southern NJ. We typically book our flights as early as possible, because usually there are not a lot of upgrade (using points) seats on a flight. I am totally spoiled.

I do not know how small the group can be and still go on - I'm hoping for a smaller sized group, but if it turns out to be a big group, I have only read good things about the tour guides handling it! I think 10 is a perfect number, but I wonder if it's too small for ABD? (We have plenty of time for that number to go up, it's only March!)

One thing I really liked about DL and CA - everything is closer! If you typically go to WDW, it's really amazing how similar and different MK and DL are. For one thing, I always used the castle as my landmark in MK, but in DL Sleeping Beauty Castle is short! You can't see it! The rides are so close together, but the theming is just as wonderful. I kept on forgetting I was not in MK and would find myself lost - it was a bit like being in a dream and nothing is quite where it 'should be'...like Captain EO is showing right next to Space Mountain, and Star Wars is in tomorrow land.. wha? It did not help that I had a horrible cold during my last (not ABD) trip, so that might account for some of my fogginess! The touring was more relaxed, and we were able to do everything we wanted in 3 days...crazy!

I'm rambling!

 

[Eeyore's the Best]

That hotel seems like a really good deal, just checked it out.

Do you know for sure that you can use the ABD transfer to get to Hollywood if you shuttle back to the airport? Sounds like something we should seriously consider, look like we could save a couple of hundred dollars compared to how much the Loews is. It's so crazy expensive!

 

[sayhello]

Do you know for sure that you can use the ABD transfer to get to Hollywood if you shuttle back to the airport? Sounds like something we should seriously consider, look like we could save a couple of hundred dollars compared to how much the Loews is. It's so crazy expensive!

You'd need to work that out with ABD, but people have done it before. I think it depends on the trip whether that works out or not.

Sayhello

 

[White Rose]

That hotel seems like a really good deal, just checked it out.

Do you know for sure that you can use the ABD transfer to get to Hollywood if you shuttle back to the airport? Sounds like something we should seriously consider, look like we could save a couple of hundred dollars compared to how much the Loews is. It's so crazy expensive!

I am going to call ABD today to ask. I do not think it should matter if we get to the airport by plane or van! We would have to get to arrivals, as typically a shuttle would drop you off at departures. We plan to ask the shuttle driver if he can get us to arrivals, or drop us off that would give us the shortest walk.

 

[sayhello]

I am going to call ABD today to ask. I do not think it should matter if we get to the airport by plane or van! We would have to get to arrivals, as typically a shuttle would drop you off at departures. We plan to ask the shuttle driver if he can get us to arrivals, or drop us off that would give us the shortest walk.

It definitely shouldn't matter. You just have to arrange it with them, because they will ask you for your flight infirmation, and if they see that you are arriving, say, 4 days ahead of time, they will assume you won't be needing transfers from the airport on the day the ABD starts, unless you tell them otherwise. You'll need to set up a time to meet the driver at the airport. There's not like someone on call at the airport for whenever you get there. .

 

[White Rose]

It definitely shouldn't matter. You just have to arrange it with them, because they will ask you for your flight infirmation, and if they see that you are arriving, say, 4 days ahead of time, they will assume you won't be needing transfers from the airport on the day the ABD starts, unless you tell them otherwise. You'll need to set up a time to meet the driver at the airport. There's not like someone on call at the airport for whenever you get there. .

I called ABD and they said it was fine and as it gets closer just to give them the time we will be there and they will have us met them at a specific terminal.

 

[sayhello]

I called ABD and they said it was fine and as it gets closer just to give them the time we will be there and they will have us met them at a specific terminal.

Sounds good!

Sayhello

 

[Eeyore's the Best]

I called ABD and they said it was fine and as it gets closer just to give them the time we will be there and they will have us met them at a specific terminal.

That's great, who knows if we end up at the same hotel we could make the same arrangements and go on the same shuttle!

 

[White Rose]

That's great, who knows if we end up at the same hotel we could make the same arrangements and go on the same shuttle!

If it works out that would be great! We are planning on a big breakfast (since it's included!) so we won't have to worry about lunch. I have no idea if we will be getting up early, because of the time difference. Probably going to leave the hotel around 11ish, I guess! We have so much time to plan all the nitty-gritty stuff. I want to have time to check out the area and the Loews too, before we all meet for dinner. I think whatever we do, we need to be at the airport before 1 PM.

One thing I wanted to ask...are you planning on doing 4 extra days at DL/CA after the tour is over, or do you have other plans? We are doing the WB studio tour on the Monday after the trip ends, and staying in Burbank.

 

[Eeyore's the Best]

If it works out that would be great! We are planning on a big breakfast (since it's included!) so we won't have to worry about lunch. I have no idea if we will be getting up early, because of the time difference. Probably going to leave the hotel around 11ish, I guess! We have so much time to plan all the nitty-gritty stuff. I want to have time to check out the area and the Loews too, before we all meet for dinner. I think whatever we do, we need to be at the airport before 1 PM.

One thing I wanted to ask...are you planning on doing 4 extra days at DL/CA after the tour is over, or do you have other plans? We are doing the WB studio tour on the Monday after the trip ends, and staying in Burbank.

We are definitely doing three more days at DL/CA, right now we are possibly considering one day at Universal Studios. We fly out super early Tuesday morning, might do Universal on the Sunday and then have one last day in the parks on Monday.


Sounds like good timing for getting to Hollywood, I will discuss with Kathy about switching that pre-trip night, seems like it would be worth it for how much money we would save. If it's anything like the Embassy Suites I stay at when we go to Niagara Falls the breakfast is really good!

 

[White Rose]

We are definitely doing three more days at DL/CA, right now we are possibly considering one day at Universal Studios. We fly out super early Tuesday morning, might do Universal on the Sunday and then have one last day in the parks on Monday.


Sounds like good timing for getting to Hollywood, I will discuss with Kathy about switching that pre-trip night, seems like it would be worth it for how much money we would save. If it's anything like the Embassy Suites I stay at when we go to Niagara Falls the breakfast is really good!

We stayed at that very Embassy Suites for our first wedding anniversary in 2004! Embassy suites tend to be very similar, in my experience. The breakfasts are good, but depending on crowds (like people leaving for cruises in southern FL and everyone is checking out at the same time...) they can be overrun at certain times, and it can be hard to get a seat or the lines for food can be sporadic. If this happens sometimes they could 'run out' of things because the staff is trying to keep up with demand. Over-all - only positive things to say. If it looks crowded, it usually passes in 10-15 minutes. I love the rooms too. the double room setup is great if you have one person who is a night owl or if you just want to spread out...

I will probably be wearing some sort of Disney shirt for the first day of the trip. I'm sure as it gets closer we will make plans to meet up and get the shuttle to the airport together.