Two go wild and go west! THREAD ONE COMPLETE About This Page:

[chezp]

Welcome to my trip report for our Vegas and California trip! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img]

As this will cover a number of different places, I'm going to post the Vegas, Lake Havasu City and San Francisco parts here in the Globetrotting forum. The San Diego and Disneyland / Los Angeles parts will go into the Disneyland trip report forum.

The pre-trip report starts here. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[chezp]

Pre-trip report – part one: from one vacation to the next!

They say the best way to conclude a Disney vacation is by having the next one planned. I have always had to do things differently, so I decided that the best way to start our Disney vacation was by planning the next one.

But first, we need to back track a bit to how this vacation started. I think, if I’m honest, this trip has been about three years in the making. Originally, 2005 was to be the year of our big three week vacation for Mark’s 40th birthday, taking in Boston to go whale watching, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon, Los Angeles and Disneyland’s 50th celebrations, San Francisco or San Diego and Washington DC. He was particularly keen to see the Grand Canyon and Vegas and I couldn’t miss Disneyland. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] It soon became apparent that getting three weeks off work in the fall of 2005 was going to be like mission impossible, so we amended our plans. We’d still do everything we planned – just in two separate vacations and we could take in a trip to Disney World as well. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img]

So we booked our MouseFest trip, which started in Boston and ended in DC and then decided that we’d head to the West Coast in spring 2006 for two weeks. I spent ages playing with dates for flights, different combinations of itineraries, flights between each stop, driving between each stop and eventually what emerged was that the cheapest day to fly out was on Good Friday. I debated between flying into San Francisco or Las Vegas and then plugged in some dates for accommodation and wouldn’t you know it? The rates around Easter were the cheapest that I found throughout March, April or May. That was decided then – start with Vegas.

I had a vague idea in my mind to try and take in San Diego, then Los Angeles and finally San Francisco, so I worked out which day we’d be flying back home and at least the first part of the puzzle was falling into place.

It was Thursday 24 November, otherwise known as Thanksgiving for many of you, but for me, it was known as “the day before we headed off to Boston, Disney and DC”. I spent my lunch hour on the phone to a travel agent, booking those flights for our California and Vegas trip, having cleared the time off the day before. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] Why the rush you wonder? Couldn’t I have just sorted it all out when I got back? Well, yes, but I was planning on using our DVC points to pay for most of our stay and I figured that if I booked the flights before we left, then at least I could sort out the accommodation while we were in Disney and the call wouldn’t cost anything. Smart, eh? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img] And hey, at least I’d have something to look forward when we got back to the UK…

Fast forward to ten days into our vacation and I was calling Member Services from our room at the Beach Club Villas [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] and booking our accommodation for most of the trip. First, the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego for two nights, then the Disneyland Hotel for five nights, then the Fairmont in San Francisco for four nights. Sorted… or was it?

It was only when we’d been home for a few days and I got all the confirmations and compared them to our flight details that I realised we had a problem. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img] It seems that we were booked to stay in San Francisco from 26 – 30 April and according to the travel details for our flights, we were coming home on 29 April. Uh-oh… something isn’t right here. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/whistling2.gif[/img] I guess the lesson here is to take the details of your flights to Florida with you so that you’ve got them when you’re calling Member Services. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/blushing.gif[/img]

A quick call to Member Services and we changed our San Francisco dates to 25 – 29 April, unfortunately having to shell out another $75 to change the reservation in the process. That was a lesson learnt the hard way. If you’re using your DVC points to pay for a hotel in the Concierge Collection, get the dates right! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img] Any chance will incur a $75 fee. I cut a night off our stay at the Disneyland Hotel and fortunately there wasn’t a fee for doing that.

I did also enquire about upgrading to the Grand Californian, as there was a new deal, meaning it wouldn’t cost as many points to stay there that I hadn’t known about when I made the original booking. That was a no-go. There was availability over the weekend, but nothing on the Friday or Monday, so I guess they were full with conference goers.

All this before Christmas as well. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img] Well, as we know, Christmas is always an expensive time of the year – and it proved to be the case for us, but mainly because I kept purchasing additional extras for this trip! The first extra was the tickets for Disneyland. I happened to be on the official website, checking out how much we’d have to budget for our tickets, when I saw an offer that ran until 27 April – everyone plays for the kids’ price. It meant that adults could get their tickets for the price of the kids’ tickets, so I didn’t need to do any more thinking about how many days worth of park admission we wanted, I just went for the five day option. It cost us $149 for each ticket, a total saving for the two of us of $140! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img]

You have to understand that over Christmas, we had snow and I was bored, but on the same day, I also started looking at Cirque du Soleil’s website and discovered that, three and a half months out, most of the decent tickets for their “O” show (the under and above water one) had already gone. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img] I really hadn’t expected that, so it was panic stations – we needed to buy tickets for the night we wanted and quickly, before the thing sold out. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img] I asked some questions on the boards about which were good seats, got some great advice [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thanx.gif[/img] and phoned up to try and get the seats I wanted. While I was on the phone, I also asked about Zumanity (the show for over 18’s only), as I knew from the website that there were still front row seats available for that. I wasn’t going to miss out on those [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502no_prv.gif[/img] so I booked those on the same phone call. I half expected the card to be refused, it had received such a bashing in about 48 hours, but it all went through fine. Now just how to pay for all this, as I wasn’t planning on buying any of this for another month or two… [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/whistling2.gif[/img]

A quick visit to the Southwest website, a good fare on offer for flights from Los Angeles (Santa Ana, not LAX [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img] ) and that was booked as well, so we were sorted on how we’d get from there to San Francisco. I didn’t fancy the idea of driving, but until someone told me that you can only get flights with Southwest through their website and not through a travel agent, I was despairing, as the prices with other airlines were crazy, so many [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thanx.gif[/img] to whoever it was who tipped me off about that. You saved us a lot of heartache there. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img]

Next: a cheaper way to stay in Vegas! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[lauren-roxy]

I am so excited!!!!!! Another Cheryl trip report!!!!!!! Great start!!! Can't wait for more!!!!

[crystalloubear]

Yipee!! Can't wait to here more. Oh wait, first you have to go on the trip. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] Won't be much longer now!

[simbarel]

Ha! I know all about those credit card bash-fests. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img] This is great, Chez, I'm looking forward to your Las Vegas experience, and what you think of Zumanity!

[MickeyMAC]

I'm so glad you started your trip report. I love reading your reports.

[Bert & Sully]

Great new sig pic! Hope you're having fun. Can't wait for another trip report update.

[mattnkatsmum]

Looks like you're having a great time in San Diego. I can't wait to read the next instalment of your trip report.

[chezp]

Thursday 13 April: they charge for that now! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img]

Although we weren’t flying out to Vegas until the next day, our vacation really began today. We both finished work the night before and I was pleasantly surprised to find I finished on time, having completed everything I needed to. A few people commented that I need to take more holidays, as I’d achieved so much that week. Well, if you want me to, I’m happy to oblige… [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/whistling2.gif[/img] … provided you pay for them of course! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

The main thing to do today was to go up to the airport. We were flying with Virgin Atlantic, the only airline to operate direct flights from London Gatwick to Las Vegas, but another great reason for choosing them was because they also offer twilight check-in, meaning that you can check in your luggage the day before and then just turn up the next day with your carry on bags, clear security and head for your gate. The twilight check-in opened at midday and we wanted to be there for that. We didn’t want to miss the opportunity to get the emergency exit seats for that long flight. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502no_prv.gif[/img]

We were there five minutes early and there were about five families in the queue in front of us – not too much of a problem, as I suspected that some of them would be going to Orlando, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and the other places that Virgin Atlantic fly to. Sure enough, the emergency exit seats were still available when we checked in, albeit at a price. Virgin have now followed the lead of some of the budget airlines and now charge for those seats. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img] Fortunately, we would only be charged for one seat, as the other is just by the door and obviously not classed as having as much legroom. No worries, I’ve sat in that seat before and don’t have a problem with it. £75 lighter (about $125) later and we had our two emergency exit seats and we were free to go…

… except we weren’t. There have been a number of changes since we last used twilight check-in, probably about two years ago. Now you have to wait at the airport for half an hour while they check your luggage, in case there are any problems. Fortunately Gatwick has a good selection of shops, so we wandered around those for a while and then grabbed some lunch at McDonald’s and after that, we were free to go.

We headed into town, picked up our travellers cheques and then headed home. The rest of the day was taken up with tidying the house, doing the last bits of laundry and clearing all of the TV programmes that we’d recorded recently. That done, we were set to go… [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Next: “This always seems to happen on Vegas flights”

[chezp]

Friday 14 April – part one: “This always seems to happen on Vegas flights”

5.00 is not a time I’m familiar with these days, but twice this week now, it’s a time I have seen. At least today I was up at this time for a good reason.

Mark’s parents were due to pick us up just before 6.00 to take us to the airport. OK, so our flight wasn’t until 10.45 and it’s only a 40 minute drive, but that drive is along one of Europe’s busiest motorways, so better safe than sorry.

We got up and finished watching the TV programmes we were catching up on from the night before and then got up and ready to go. Mark’s parents were as good as their word and were with us by 5.45.

We had a very smooth journey up to the airport, with all the delays on the other side of the carriageway. I just hope it didn’t take Mark’s parents too long to get home after they dropped us at the airport.

Having already checked in our luggage yesterday, we walked straight past check-in and did take some delight in the long wait there. Definitely the right move to take yesterday off work and sort all of that stuff out then. Food was calling out names, not having had breakfast yet, so we headed straight for Frankie and Benny’s.

I went for a Monterey Jack cheese and tomato panini, while Mark went for the full works – bacon, sausage, eggs – you get the idea. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] The food was good, but as we’ve experienced her before, the service was very slow. Just as well we had plenty of time to kill before our flight.

We finished eating and headed through security with only a moment’s wait. Where on earth where all the crowds? The news the day before had been full of stories about how busy the airports would be over the Easter weekend, but there was no sign of that here.

With a two hour wait before boarding, we wandered round the duty free shops and I got a pedometer. Goodness knows where the last one I picked up from Wal-Mart ended up, but I can’t find it anywhere at home.

Then it was upstairs to the viewing area, which is always nice and quiet, where I was able to catch up on the boards, while Mark watched the exploits outside and how a German plane sat there for ages, while everything else around it went. I hope that doesn’t happen to us… [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/ukid.gif[/img]

Well, guess what happened next? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif[/img] We wandered round a few more shops and people watched and on this floor, you could see how busy the place was. We kept an eye out for details of our gate to board at, knowing that it’s usually up an hour before the flight departs. We got past 10.00 and there was still no sign of a gate number. I knew at that point that there was no way we’d be leaving on time – and sadly I was right.

The gate number was only posted about 35 minutes before we were due to depart and when we got there, we sat and we waited and we waited some more and then we waited some more, all without a word of explanation. It didn’t help that the PA system for our gate wasn’t working, so when they finally got round to boarding us, they had to yell which seats they wanted, but loads of people still couldn’t hear. We were one of the last on, as they loaded from the back of the plane and we were fairly near the front.

In the end, we finally took off an hour or so late. Let’s just say that the whole boarding process was farcical. They were way too slow in getting people on and most people just didn’t seem to hurry themselves. Come on guys, I’ve got a holiday to start! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img]

Because we were in the emergency exit seats, we couldn’t have anything on our laps for take-off and that included the trip report I was reading from the boards. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif[/img] Once the seatbelt went off though, we were allowed to settle back and relax. We watched Aeon Flux, while waiting for the food to come round. It took a lot longer than I would’ve liked, as I was hungry by then, but when it came, it was worth the wait. I had a lovely mushroom and spinach ravioli dish – very good and just what I needed. As soon as I polished that off, I wanted to sleep but had to wait for it to be taken away and they didn’t get round to doing that in time before the turbulence started.

“This always seems to happen on the Vegas flights” one of the cabin crew told us. Oh great! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/ukid.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img] Now I’ve flown a lot and experienced a fair bit of turbulence, but this is probably the roughest set – and of course, we’ve all still got our lunch trays on our laps. I just keep my fingers crossed that we don’t need to evacuate at any point, as it’s going to be interesting trying to get out of our seats.

After that, the flight was a lot smoother and I got a couple of hours sleep, waking up to find Mark in deep discussion with the couple next to us. Well, that’s not entirely true. The guy was sitting next to us, Colin, and his wife Kim was behind us. Apparently they’d run into some problems while checking in and had to sit separately. Anyway, they were chatting away about everything under the sun, from plans for this vacation to previous vacations to football – it had to be featured in there somewhere. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif[/img]

Next: where is this taxi driver going? and I want one of these bathrooms!

[LisaJ]

Enjoying the report so far! I hate turbulence - it just makes me on edge for the whole flight. Glad it smoothed out finally. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/snore.gif[/img]

[duck addict]

Did you sleep last night? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/questionicon.gif[/img] Between laundry, trip reports and jet lag you must be tired! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/dizzy.gif[/img] Great start!

[chezp]

[ QUOTE ]
Did you sleep last night? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/questionicon.gif[/img] Between laundry, trip reports and jet lag you must be tired! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/dizzy.gif[/img] Great start!

[/ QUOTE ]

Trust me, we are very tired today! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img] However, we were in bed at 10.00 last night and slept through until 7.30, so I got nine and a half hours sleep. I just feel like I need more! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[mestitch]

Wow! I was just thinking about you last night!! Glad you started so soon!! And thanks for making me all worried about your comment [ QUOTE ]
Now I’ve flown a lot and experienced a fair bit of turbulence, but this is probably the roughest set – and of course, we’ve all still got our lunch trays on our laps. I just keep my fingers crossed that we don’t need to evacuate at any point, as it’s going to be interesting trying to get out of our seats.

[/ QUOTE ]

Anyways, I can't wait to hear more!! And that's what Andy and I love about ole Mark..he'll chat away with anybody about anything [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif[/img]

MORE please [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[CindyD]

Cheryl I [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/love.gif[/img] reading your reports!!