Double the fun: East & West coast Disney & Universal parks during the holiday season - Sydney Complete!! - UPDATED 3/31 About This Page:

[Big Sister]

REPORT TITLE: Double the fun : East & West coast Disney & Universal parks during the holiday season (9 Nov.-21 Dec. 2010)

INTRODUCTION & ITINERARY
Our Party:
Myself - Big Sister (34) Disney experience: Disneyland Resort Paris (2001 & 2003) ; WDW (2005) ; Disneyland California (2007)
My Littlest Brother, Nest (20) Disney experience: Disneyland California (2007)
Our Journey: 9 Nov: Qantas flight from Canberra to Sydney ; 12 Nov: Delta flight from Sydney to LA ; 17 Nov: Delta flight from LA to Orlando ; 12 Dec: Delta flight from Orlando to LA ; 21 Dec: Delta flight from LA to Sydney: 23 Dec:Virgin flight from Sydney to Canberra. Economy class all the way
Our Lodging: Sydney:Aaron's Hotel (special request: deluxe room) ; Universal Studios Hollywood: Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City (special request: away from the pet friendly rooms) ; Walt Disney World: Pop Century Resort (special request: preferred room) ; Universal Studios Orlando: Hard Rock Hotel (special request: concierge level) ; Disneyland California: Disneyland Hotel (special request: couldn't afford any by this stage!)
Our Special Plans: The whole trip was designed to be special, but here are some outstanding highlights: Sydney: Seeing Robin Williams live ; Hollywood: VIP Tour of Universal Studios and Warner Bros Studios ; Florida: Harry Potter World ; being part of the Macy's Holiday Parade ; the treasure hunt around WDW I organised for Nest with the help of the lovely Jane from Presentations : Gifts of a Lifetime ; Big Cat Rescue down in Tampa ; Disneyland California: finally getting to dine at the Blue Bayou after a 10 year wait!

I was intending to post a pre-trip report before my departure date last year, and was really excited about the thought, but time simply got away from me. Now I have no excuse . Just a quick note before I start: we weren't able to keep to the itinerary 100% due to the occasional illness, unexpected tiredness, crowds, finances, and during our Disneyland leg - extremely unfortunate weather. I hope you all enjoy reading about our original plans, and I'll do my best to keep the updates coming, complete with photos . (Apologies this post is just one massive lump of text! I've compensated for the lack of photos, by the possible overuse of smilies .)

Tuesday, 9 November

Our adventure well and truly begins when we catch an 11.20am Qantas flight out of Canberra. To omit experiencing the stress of almost missing our connecting international flight like last time, we arrive in Sydney fifty minutes later at 12.10pm, where we'll be staying for the next three nights.

We'll be staying at Aaron's Hotel, which has been our family's choice of accommodation as far back as 1998 whenever any of us have travelled up to Sydney. It's located right in the centre of town, and is reasonably priced despite its convenient location. It's so reasonably priced, in fact, that I was able to book a deluxe twin room instead of the standard twin room I had originally been planning to book.

By the time we make our way out of the airport and catch the shuttle bus to the hotel, we should be able to check in. If not, there's a secure place where we'll be able to store our bags and go off exploring.

From the hotel, we plan on walking down to Darling Harbour and exploring the shops. We were going to try and fit in the Aquarium and Wildlife World on this day too, but since Luna Park is inconsiderately closed for the entire duration of our stay (noooooo!), we decided to devote the Luna Park day to a full day at the Aquarium and Wildlife World instead, so we can take them in at a more relaxed pace. So today will just be an 'easy' day, strolling around the shops, relaxing by the Harbour, and perhaps taking in a movie at the giant IMAX cinema.

Wednesday, 10 November

Today we plan on going to the Sydney Aquarium. I so love the Sydney Aquarium - there's just something about it I find so wonderfully relaxing (unless there happens to be screaming kids echoing through the tunnels ) Nest hasn't been to the Aquarium since he was a toddler, so it will pretty much be a new experience for him, which I'm excited about. Since my own Sydney holiday back in 2003 (I was travelling with friends at the time, not Nest), Wildlife World has popped up next door to the Aquarium, so we'll check things out there as well. You can get your photo taken with a koala here, which I hope Nest is up for, as I think it will turn out so cute.

Thursday, 11 November

I've been busting to return to Taronga Park Zoo ever since my last visit in 2003, and Nest has never been, which is going to make this visit especially exciting. To get there, we'll have to catch a water taxi to Circular Quay, followed by a ferry. It is an absolutely beautiful zoo, and quite large (as is their gift shop .) Last time I was there, there were renovations occurring all over the property, so I look forward to seeing it without all the construction going on. I receive Taronga's monthly newsletter, and I'm very excited to see for myself, all the animals these newsletters have been featuring, especially the baby elephants and the baby pygmy hippo. Nest is a wildlife photographer (though he's currently supporting himself in non-photographic jobs until he gets himself established), and we're both very excited at all the photographic possibilities awaiting him there. One particularly picture perfect photo I remember my parents taking when I was little, was of the giraffes. Their enclosure overlooks the harbour, with the Sydney Opera House in the background. I can safely say we'll definitely be staying at Taronga until closing time.

You'd think that going to Taronga Park Zoo is enough excitement for one day. I've been able to "plus it", as Walt Disney used to say, and have planned something incredibly exciting for our last night in Australia - tickets to Robin Williams' stand up comedy show, Weapons of Self Destruction, at the Sydney Entertainment Centre at 8pm! I first found out that Robin Williams was coming to Australia, from one lone paragraph buried in the middle of the newspaper - I almost missed it. I mentioned it to Nest, and he was very enthusiastic about us going to see him. The following day, I looked up on the internet to see if we'd be able to catch one of his shows, and was so excited to find that he starts his Sydney shows on our last night there! The Sydney Entertainment Centre is within short walking distance of our hotel, which is great. Just as great, is that there's a McDonald's next door to the Centre, which we can get a snack at afterwards if we're hungry . Yay convenience!

Friday, 12 November

Hopefully after the excitement of the previous night, we will have still been able to get ourselves ready for this morning's departure. We fly out of Sydney at 11.25am with Delta Airlines, who we've never flown with (let alone heard of) before, but I was assured that they're great. We touch down in Los Angeles at 6.10am that same day. Last time it took us quite a while to get through LAX, so hopefully by the time we make our way through this time, and catch the first shuttle that comes along, we'll arrive at our hotel at a more civilised hour.

We'll be staying at the Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City, the hotel nearest the Universal Studios park. (We chose this hotel because of its close proximity to the park, but also because of the photo of the contents of our room's mini bar - Nest and I absolutely love snacks!) Checkin time isn't until much later, but hopefully our room will be ready anyway, so we can freshen ourselves up after our lengthy flight, before hitting the park as well as thoroughly exploring Universal City Walk (a place we didn't even set foot in last time, as we forgot about it, we were having so much fun in the park. By the time we realised this, it was time to catch our coach back to Disneyland.)

Saturday, 13 November

No doubt we'll be sleeping in big time today, getting over jetlag. An alarm clock will be set to ensure we wont be getting up when everyone else is going to bed though. Today will be another day devoted to Universal Studios, followed by dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe in Universal City Walk. I've gone over their menu countless times, and there are so many yummy dishes and desserts to choose from! I still can't make up my mind looking at it even now ... hopefully I don't take this long in deciding when I'm actually there. I tend to stick with my firm favourites, as I know I'll love them, but at the same time, I think I should try something new I wouldn't normally have at home, and perhaps I'll discover a new favourite dish .

Sunday, 14 November

Our main reason for staying in Universal City, is so we're able to take advantage of the Universal Studios VIP Experience. We both fell in love with the tram tour on our last visit, and the VIP Experience promises more access and other treats, so I'm sure we're going to have a fantastic time.

Dinner tonight, will be at the Saddle Ranch Chop House. I remember the building from our last visit, as we were standing near it while lamenting over forgetting to visit Universal City Walk as we waited for our coach. It wasn't until we saw the restaurant featured on Getaway, an Australian travel show, did I realise it was a place to take notice of! On locating a copy of their menu online, I was beside myself with excitement at all the delicious meal options on offer. I have no idea what I will end up having, main meal wise, but my dessert choice was locked in long ago - "The Cotton Carnival", a three foot tall cotton candy extravaganza accompanied by chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cake, and surrounded by fresh strawberries, bananas and whipped cream!!!

Monday, 15 November

Last visit, we discovered just how close Warner Bros Studios was to Universal, but weren't able to do anything about it at the time as all our plans had been locked in and we had no spare time. Now that we're aware of Warner Bros close proximity to Universal, we were able to include a visit in this year's plans. We are big fans of the Harry Potter movies and the TV series Supernatural, so we're hoping that the Deluxe Tour will include something about them. On my search for further information on this subject, I have learnt that there is a Harry Potter Museum. Even though photography's apparently not allowed in this section, I'm still super excited that such a museum exists.

Tuesday, 16 November

There will be no sleeping in this morning, as first item on the agenda is a 9am pickup for a 10am VIP Grand Helicopter Tour of Los Angeles, another discovery I made thanks to Getaway. I'm really excited at the prospect of seeing LA from above, and Nest is particularly excited of being able to see the Hollywood sign up close (one of his photographic goals for this trip.)

After the helicopter tour and if time is on our side, we're dearly hoping to be able to catch a taping of Ellen DeGeneres' show over at Warner Bros Studios. If this doesn't work out, we have two backup plans. The first one is exploring the Hollywood Hills, giving Nest a chance to do some photography of wildlife not present in Australia (Nest's other photography goal for this trip, is getting some photos of squirrels.) Our other backup plan is going to the Santa Monica Pier.

Wednesday, 17 November

There will definitely be no sleeping in this morning, as we're catching the 9.55am Delta Airlines flight to Orlando! Even though I'm looking forward to all stops on this trip, Orlando is the stop I'm most looking forward to. Ever since my brief week long visit with a friend back in 2005, I've been busting to return. This will be Nest's first ever visit to Orlando, and I'm absolutely ecstatic at being the one to introduce him to the magic of Walt Disney World at Christmas time, and witnessing his reactions of excitement and wonder .

We'll be touching down in Orlando at 5.43pm, and catching the Magical Express to Disney's Pop Century Resort, our home for the next eighteen nights! Even though all decades of this resort look fun (I'm a 70s baby and absolutely love that decade, Nest's a 90s baby, and we both love the 80s), I've asked for a preferential room in the 60's section, as the hippy flower power theme looks fantastically bright and happy.

On freshening up, comes the difficult task of deciding which park to hit first. I have a sneaking suspicion that it will probably be the Magic Kingdom, as one of our favourite rides is Splash Mountain, and there has been a running joke between the two of us about it for quite some time. Nest has been telling me that if I do anything embarrassing, or want to see a show he's not at all interested in, that he'll be on Splash Mountain.

A close second though, could be Disney's Hollywood Studios, as we're both massive fans of Rod Serling's Twilight Zone and Night Gallery, and absolutely love the Tower of Terror ride. I've been telling Nest the differences between the Californian and Orlando Tower of Terrors, and he can't wait to experience the Orlando one for himself.

Hey, if we're crazy enough, we could make both parks, therefore eliminating the hassle of having to choose between the two!

Thursday, 18 November

Our first full day at Disney World, begins with an 8.30am breakfast at the Crystal Palace. There is a dish here that I'm particularly eager to try, but have forgotten which one from all the excitement! Nest loved Winnie the Pooh and Piglet when he was little, so hopefully he'll still be happy in his own quiet way, to meet them in person at breakfast.

I soooooo love the Christmas season, and on this night Nest and I will be attending our first of six Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party! Disney does Christmas so beautifully, and I can't wait to share these parties with Nest, and make sure we get to experience every single thing possible, having time to redo our favourite things. Other party nights will be devoted to photography, as Nest loves experimenting with night light shots, so he'll be in his element here. On those nights, it will be my job to be his assistant, helping with lens changes and keeping his energy up with churros, spiced sugar cookies, and mugs of hot chocolate. 'Spose I had better make a note to keep a packet of wipes handy, as I know how particular he is about keeping his camera equipment in pristine condition. Nest's third photography goal for the trip, is to find the perfect place to take some awesome fireworks shots.

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party comes to an end at 12.30 at night, and I have organised a surprise for Nest for afterwards. While Nest and I are out partying, I have organised for Disney Floral & Gifts to come and decorate our room with the Dreaming of a Disney Christmas option. I sooooooo cannot wait to see what our room will look like, and the look on Nest's face when he sees it for himself (he's always first in the door, so there'll be no chance of me blocking the view.)

Friday, 19 November

Today will pretty much be devoted to the Animal Kingdom park, beginning with Donald's Safari Breakfast at 8.35am. Nest and I are particularly looking forward to meeting Donald, as we love the way he can be cheeky at times, and how he fusses and flusters about when he's caught doing something wrong or something doesn't go according to plan. Penciled in, but not locked in, is a possible lunch at Restaurantasaurus, followed by dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. It depends on what we're doing at the time, and how hungry we are.

I'm super excited about my first visit back to the Animal Kingdom park, as Expedition Everest has opened since my last visit, and looks absolutely AWESOME! Nest and I absolutely love rollercoasters, and are so looking forward to experiencing this one! We're also super curious about seeing the yeti, as in the old DVD documentary we've watched countless times, the ride is still under construction, and the imagineers are making a big deal about the yeti.

I only got to visit the Animal Kingdom once during my last visit, and didn't get to explore the whole park, as my poor friend had a badly swollen ankle at the time (it was seriously getting as big as an elephant's foot!), and was getting around in an electronic convenience vehicle. I'm really looking forward to exploring all the animals trails for the first time, as is Nest.

I'm really looking forward to taking Nest on the dinosaur ride, as my friend and I had an absolutely hilarious experience on it last time. We were the only ones in the car, and were driving along minding our own business, when without warning, this T-Rex shot out at us from the dark on our right hand side, and scared the living daylights out of us! One minute we were passing this dark patch, the next minute we were bathed in a sudden blinding white light and a roaring T-Rex! The resulting souvenir photo was absolutely priceless! We stood laughing at it for ages on the screen (seriously!), before purchasing a copy. It showed my friend half out of her seat with her hands over her ears and a super surprised look on her face. I always look funny in photos, so there's no surprises there . I really hope I can hunt down a copy of that photo - I know I have a copy stored safely away somewhere. Nest doesn't scare as easily, but I'm hoping our photo will still turn out funny. Without saying anything, I plan on getting him to sit on my right hand side

Taking into account our plans for the next day, any normal person would call it a night once the Animal Kingdom closed. Not Nest and I - we'll be off Christmas partying with Mickey once again!

Saturday, 20 November

It's a very early rise this morning, as Nest and I have hired a driver to take us to Tampa for the day, as we need to get to Busch Gardens to sign in for our 1pm Tiger and Orangutan Keeper Experience by 9.30am. I wasn't able to find a single review for this experience, but I love big cats so much, and Nest loves primates, that I thought it would be a great activity for us. Ever since a tiger got out of its enclosure at San Francisco Zoo a few years back with fatal human consequences, and more recently, a white lioness escaping her enclosure at Mogo Zoo here in Australia (with no fatal human consequences, but unfortunately the lioness wasn't so lucky, which I was upset about), Mum has tried forbidding us from going to Zoos or having anything to do with big cats. So for this day, we've been telling her that we're doing an Orangutan Keeper Experience, and not mentioning anything about the tiger aspect

Seeing as we only have one day at Busch Gardens, when buying our admission tickets online, I discovered that for a couple of extra dollars, I was able to buy a Quick Queue add on for us both. This allows us access to the quick line of the top nine rides, enabling us to make the most of our time at the park.

The park closes at 7pm, which is when we'll leave, and not a minute earlier! I've been aware of a Mears Shuttle bus that has return transport to Orlando for just $10 each, but I read the small print, and they say they can't guarantee you'll arrive at the park before 11.30am, and departure time is something like 5.30pm. Nest and I want to have the full ten hours there, hence our decision to hire a driver. Unfortunately, his fare isn't $10 each though

Sunday, 21 November

Nothing has been locked in for today, surprise surprise. That is probably a good thing, as it will give us a chance to catch up on some sleep (not too much, mind you!), and I suppose I had better start thinking about that unavoidable task of doing the laundry :

If I am forced to do the laundry (can't somebody else do it for me?!), we had better come up with something super fun to do afterwards, to make up for starting the day with such a mundane task! My vote is for Disney's Hollywood Studios to ride the Tower of Terror endlessly, which I'm sure Nest will agree to. The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights should up by then too, so that will be a massive treat for both of us to experience - I hope Nest remembers to bring his camera!

Monday, 22 November

Today is another free day, so seeing as both of us have never been to Epcot, today would be a good day as any to go! I can't imagine what it's going to be like to finally be able to go there, despite having watched documentaries about it and reading a variety of guidebooks. I'm really excited at the prospect of eating our way around 'the world' though, experiencing rides we've never been on, and going to the aquarium, not to mention viewing the very impressive sounding Illuminations for the first time.

Tuesday, 23 November

If we thought our Tampa day started early, then we have another thing coming today. I wont mention our starting time for the risk of offending anybody with the shocking-ness of it! Our morning activity is a Blue Water Balloons Flight over Orlando, which we're both greatly looking forward to (ignoring the departure time )

A possible activity for when we return from our hot air balloon flight, is a visit to Gatorland. I read how they're installing a zipline, which sounds incredibly exciting to us both. After Gatorland, we're considering spending the rest of the afternoon/evening exploring Downtown Disney, including a stint at DisneyQuest, followed by dinner at Planet Hollywood.

The other possibility to the above, is falling asleep on our return to the Pop Century Resort, and hitting a park when we wake up.

Wednesday, 24 November

Today is an incredibly full day, with Nest having booked us in to the very exciting sounding Backstage Magic Tour from 8.45am-4.45pm.

For dinner, I have reserved places for us at Cinderella's Royal Table. I'm particularly excited about this, as I was ill when my friend and I went in 2005, and I couldn't enjoy myself fully or eat very much. Nest is not sure about having his photo taken with Cinderella, which is something I have to work on if we're to fully document our trip in photos

Thursday, 25 November (Thanksgiving Day)

We're looking forward to experiencing a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner at Tony's Town Square Restaurant at 7pm. Nest is not a big fan of turkey legs, but I hope to find room for at least one sometime throughout the day as well (as well as every other day we're in the parks! )

Friday, 26 November

Nothing has been locked in for today, but we have a long list of things we'd like to do. I think I'm contradicting myself here


Firstly, we'd love to go to Blizzard Beach, as we have read about some awesome slides there, the Summit Plummet one in particular! (I'll probably change my mind in wanting to go on it once faced with the actual 120 foot plunge though!)

We'd then like to devote the remainder of the day to Downtown Disney once again, starting with a Pleasure Island Characters in Flight Balloon ride if it's still operating (I haven't heard much about it, except that it exists.) Afterwards, we're hoping to go to the cinema to see the latest Harry Potter movie, and finishing the day with dinner at the super fantastic sounding T-Rex restaurant. All the dining areas there sound so fantastic, that I hope Nest is able to make a decision as to which one to dine in, as I know I'll be useless in deciding. Once again, I cannot decide on a main course, but the chocolate extinction dish for dessert looks promising

Saturday, 27 November

Today is a super massive deal to me, as we're taking another day trip to Tampa, this time to spend the day at Big Cat Rescue. As I mentioned before, I absolutely love big cats (cats of all sizes, really), and when I discovered the existence of place, I knew I just had to get there no matter what.

Big Cat Rescue is a sanctuary for big cats. As you're not permitted to go around the sanctuary unescorted, I've booked a variety of tours to allow us to stay the whole day and make the most of everything on offer. We begin our big cat day when we checkin at 11.15am for our two hour Photo Safari from 11.30am-1.30pm. At 1.45pm, we checkin for our two hour Keeper Tour from 2-4pm. Our last big cat activity begins at 4.25pm, when we checkin for the hour long Feeding Tour from 4.30-5.30pm. Hopefully sometime during the day, we'll have a moment for a quick snack ourselves, as well as a definite visit to the gift shop (which closes during the Feeding Tour), not to mention some loo stops

This has got to be the non-themepark day I'm looking forward to the most, but don't tell Mum

Sunday, 28 November

Usually when I know a place of any kind is going to be packed, I tend to do my best to avoid that place at all costs. Not this time. Knowing that themeparks are particularly popular on weekends, Nest and I have decided to get in the middle of it all and be part of the crowd. Looking at my diary, we have locked in activities at the Magic Kingdom for the entire day.

We start with the Keys to the Kingdom tour from 9.30am-2pm, which I have been super excited about ever since I read about it. I seriously hope one of the attractions our tour guide chooses to focus on, is the Haunted Mansion, as it's something I've always wanted to learn as much as possible on, yet I've heard the tour itinerary varies. Having said that though, I'm sure whatever we end up doing on the tour, we'll enjoy.

In the evening, Nest and I will be attending Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.

Monday, 29 November

Our itinerary has gracefully provided us with a rare sleep-in opportunity if needed (ha!) Well it can't possibly a rare opportunity to do the laundry! I refuse to acknowledge the fact! We don't have to be anywhere in particular until 12.30pm, where we have a lunch reservation at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre in Disney's Hollywood Studios park. I'm really excited at the drive-in theatre concept, where you get to sit in cars facing a screen showing corny old science fiction movies while eating - Nest and I will be in our element here! Drive-in theatres disappeared from our home town in the early 1990s, so it's going to be fun reliving the memories here at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre!

If we haven't managed to fit it in somewhere already (or even if we have), we plan on staying in Disney's Hollywood Studios park until closing, as we want to fully experience the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.

Tuesday, 30 November

I am so super massively excited about today, as I have organised a surprise for Nest with the Presentations : Gifts of a Lifetime people, and I'm soooooo looking forward to seeing what they come up with! The only thing I've specified, is that they give the experience a treasure hunting theme, as ever since Nest was a little boy, he has had this obsession of hunting for treasure, and I know that obsession is still lurking within him, going by his recent excited reactions to shows on TV with the same sort of theme. I've asked if his gift can be placed in a treasure chest (not a big hunking pirate sized treasure chest - I didn't want to be seen as unreasonable!), and that when he opens the lid, his gift is surrounded by foil covered chocolate coins and gaudy costume jewellery. I've hired a photographer for the event, and I so hope they can capture the reaction on Nest's face when he opens the treasure chest

My expectations for the above activity are so high, that you wouldn't think I'd need to have anything else planned for the rest of the day, but seeing as I love excitement and happiness (as I'm sure we all do), I've decided to keep the pixie dust in full flow by finishing off the day with another attendance at Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.

Wednesday, 1 December

The feeling of being so super massively excited continues today, where it's all going to be about Christmas Christmas Christmas! I was so excited after having booked the following two tours, that I went about the house doing a sped up crazy dance, and when Nest asked if I was ok, it just made me dance even crazier! It was midnight at the time, so his question was warranted

Our first tour of the day is the Yuletide Fantasy tour, beginning at 9am. I first found out about this tour a little after returning from my 2005 trip, and I was soooooo disappointed that I hadn't known about it before-hand, so my friend and I could've experienced it. Luckily, five years later, the tour is still on offer, and I seriously can't wait to experience it! I'm particularly looking forward to visiting the foyers of hotels we wouldn't otherwise have time to go and see off our own bat, as well as behind the scenes at Holiday Services (how do you get a job there?!)

Our second tour of the day is the new Holiday D-Lights tour, beginning at 4pm. As the name suggests, this tour focuses on the holiday lights at Disney World. It's going to be so brilliant hearing the story behind them. I'm curious about the Candlelight Processional part of this tour - even though I've heard very favourable reviews about the event, and how people make it a tradition to attend every year, it's not something Nest and I would go out of our way to see (I think I'll duck for cover now, in case somebody decides to throw something at me! ;) I am pleased that it's included in this tour, as it gives Nest and I the chance to experience something we wouldn't have otherwise, and I'm sure we'll be pleasantly surprised. I was excited to read that Whoopi Goldberg is going to be one of the guest narrators, but unfortunately we wont be there on the date of her appearance. The last time I checked, the guest narrator for our viewing hadn't yet been decided.

The Disney employee helping me book the tours above, was Betsy-Lyn. She was such a super nice and polite lady, and when I was telling her how it will be my brother's first trip to WDW, and how I was so excited at introducing him to the magic there, she said she made a note on our reservations to ensure our tour guides will know that it's his first visit. I'm not sure what this means, but I'm terribly excited all the same! I didn't tell Nest about this part of the phonecall, so that it will be a surprise for him if something unexpectedly nice does happen.

To keep the Christmas theme of the day in full swing, I've organised yet another surprise for Nest. While we're out and about on the Holiday D-Lights tour, I've organised for Disney Floral & Gifts to come into our room once again, and set up Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Tree, as well as Mickey's Stocking of Surprises. These two options weren't available until December 1 (I did ask if it was possible if they could be set up earlier, but it wasn't.) I'm doing my best to make Nest's first trip to WDW totally unforgettable .

Thursday, 2 December

The only activity locked in for day, is attending Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at 7pm.

Friday, 3 December

Our stay at WDW will be coming to an end by this stage (nooooooooooooooooooooo!), and we will be attending Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party for the last time.

Saturday, 4 December

This will be our last day at WDW, so we plan on going mental and hitting all the parks in an attempt at experiencing our favourite rides and attractions for what will be the last time for quite a while. The night will be devoted to packing our suitcases and most probably scrambling around the property taking last minute photos of the larger than life icons from across the decades.

Sunday, 5 December

While it will be sad to be leaving WDW, I will be cracking open a new case of excitement, as we'll be travelling just a short way up the road! How far up the road? All the way to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, people! Ever since the announcement was made back in 2007 that such a park was in the pipelines, I've been busting all over with excitement! I was always on the lookout for information, articles, and photos, and it wasn't until last year that they started being readily available and I became even more excited. I just knew that I had to visit, no matter what.

Nest and I will be at Universal Studios for a week, where we'll be staying at the Hard Rock Hotel. On the rare occasion when I can stop thinking about WWoHP, I get really excited about our choice of hotel. Since Nest and I could only afford a value resort at WDW due to the length of time we decided to stay (we had originally wanted to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge due to Nest's love of wildlife photography), I decided to treat ourselves at the Hard Rock Hotel, and for $40 extra a night, was able to book us a club level room on the 7th floor with two queen size beds, a great view, and free breakfast daily! It was originally meant to be a surprise, but I ended up not being able to keep my mouth shut from excitement after having seen the photos, and blurted it all out to Nest, who in turn became just as excited as me .

There will be no surprises as to which park we'll be hitting first once settled in .

Monday, 6 December

If we didn't manage it the day before, today is the day we must try and have lunch at The Three Broomsticks. I'm not sure about Nest, but I plan on tasting every single dish and beverage mentioned in the Harry Potter novels, especially as I've read that butterbeer in particular is exclusive to the park, and will not be available anywhere else (not the authentic stuff, anyway.)

Tuesday, 7 December

Today will be devoted to the seven hour 1 day/2 park non-exclusive tour of Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure parks. I was unable to find a single review of this tour anywhere, except for a really old paragraph written by someone who had taken it previously, which didn't really shed any light on what I wanted to know. The brief description on Universal's website promises interesting facts and possible behind the scenes access when available, which is the main thing we're after - the express access to top attractions and shows is a bonus .

Wednesday, 8 December

Even before any mention of Universal getting the rights to WWoHP, I have been eager to visit Universal Orlando. Just recently, I came across an absolutely fantastic book on the park, called Universal Orlando 2010 : the ultimate guide to the ultimate theme park adventure, written by Kelly Monaghan and Seth Kubersky. It was published before the opening of WWoHP, but still contained information on it. I'm sure the 10th edition will have thorough coverage of it though. Anyway, this book is fantastically detailed and very fun to read. I have a long list of things I don't want Nest and I to miss as a result, and it has me thinking that we wont have enough time to experience it all properly!

One of the results of reading the book, is having a long list of eateries to test out. One restaurant I don't want us to miss out on, is Mythos. It sounds so wonderfully themed, and apparently the warm chocolate banana gooey cake comes highly recommended. Circus McGurkus Cafe Stoo-pendous is another eatery I don't want us to miss, purely to see the Dr Seuss themeing, and see the High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride go overhead as you eat. Classic Monsters Cafe also sounds like another must do, as it's themed with monsters of the corny old black and white horror movies, which Nest and I absolutely love. I also love the sound of Blondie's, an overstuffed sandwich shop. Elasticized pants - here I come!

The book has also left me super excited about the rides and attractions at Universal. We were going to try and go on them all anyway, regardless of having done any research on them or not - it's just excited to know a bit more than if I hadn't read up anything beforehand at all.

Thursday, 9 December

After having lamenting (in a joking tone - I hope you picked that up! ) about worrying at not having enough time at Universal, we've locked in a day at SeaWorld for today. They have some amazing sounding tours on offer, but we ended up deciding to take things easy and just go about enjoying things at our own pace. To ensure we get to do everything (we don't plan on moving that slow, but you never know ), I've bought an unlimited all day quick queue pass for each of us, in addition to our normal park admission. This will allow us front of line access to SeaWorld's four rides (Journey to Atlantis (love this ride!), Kracken, the new (to me) Mantra (can't wait to try it!), and Wild Arctic), and I can't quite remember, as I forgot to print the screen, but I believe we also get quick access to the skytower and the paddle boats.

I had been planning on taking Nest to the place where my friend and I had lunch back in 2005 (the pizza place that sells super amazing waffle fries), which I know he'll thoroughly enjoy, but I have since discovered Sharks Underwater Grill - the view of the sharks you have here while eating your meal, looks simply amazing! Since reservations are made on the day on the of your visit, we'll wait to see how things pan out - the final decision will be Nest's .

Friday, 10 December

Here's another non-themepark day I'm super massively excited about! The main treat of the day is partaking in an Air Florida Helicopter Charter Tour. They have a number of options to choose from, and Nest and I are hoping to do their choice of flying over the WDW and Universal parks. Massive thanks to the small print in a fan article on WWoHP for that tip - if it wasn't for that, I would never have known the existence of this company!

Lunch is going to be at the World's Biggest Maccas, which we're incredibly excited about. We don't eat McDonald's much at home, but the fact that there's a world's biggest near where we'll be staying, is exciting. I got their menu off the internet, and it's nothing like the McDonald's we have here in Australia! We're so excited! Nest keeps on saying that he wants a cup of dirt (one of the kid's dessert options on the menu.) One of these nights when I'm not feeling so lazy and he says something about wanting a cup of dirt, I'm going to go out into the garden and get him one as a joke .

At 9pm, we have a reservation to see the Blue Man Group perform a show. We're not incredibly big fans of shows per se, but when we read that the Blue Man Group use glitter, coloured paint, jelly, and Twinkies, to name but a few props, we thought we'd definitely have to check it out for ourselves!

For dinner (I'm not sure yet whether this will be before or after the show), we plan on going to the Hard Rock Cafe.

Saturday, 11 December

This will be our last full day in Orlando for a very long time (queue hanging onto the nearest doorway to prevent being taken away ), and we plan on getting our fill of both Universal parks.

Sunday, 12 December

Since our flight to LA doesn't depart until 5.30pm, I'm guessing we'll have a bit of last minute Universal/WWoHP themeparking to do if we're organised enough (which we will be ... honest!) Our flight arrives in LA at 7.58pm, where we'll catch the Magical Express (if it's running that late - will have to check it out) straight to Disneyland . We'll be staying in a standard room with a standard view, at the Disneyland Hotel for the next nine nights.

Another thing I'll have to check out before our trip, are the opening hours of the Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure parks. I'm hoping they'll still be open on our arrival night, so we can hit the parks running and grab some dinner. Since our last visit back in 2007, I've become aware of some pretty big changes, so it will be interesting to see them for ourselves. If the parks aren't open once we get in, we can see what's happening in Downtown Disney, or just grab some dinner from room service and take it easy for the remainder of the night.

Monday, 13 December

Today we hope to be doing the Walk in Walt's Footsteps tour. We wont know for certain until reservations for this date open up on our second day in LA at the beginning of our vacation. Fingers crossed!

Tuesday, 14 December

We plan to start off the day with a hearty breakfast with Chip 'n Dale at the Storyteller's Cafe, and close the evening with dinner at the Blue Bayou. Hope they still do mint juleps and cookie dough boats! (We slept through both reservations last vacation - nooooo!)

Wednesday, 15 December

We enjoyed our dinner at Goofy's Kitchen so much last time, that we'll be dining there again this vacation! This time, we'll only have to roll into an elevator to get to our room afterwards, instead of blobbing all the way back to the Grand Californian (last time I ate so much, I was quite ill afterwards. That'll teach me!)

Thursday, 16 December

Today begins our first of three days out of Disneyland! Will we be able to cope? Last vacation, we ended up cancelling two of our out of park excursions, as we couldn't bear to pull ourselves away from Disneyland! Today's excursion will be to San Diego Zoo. Due to the travelling time involved, I expect it will be room service for dinner. We don't mind in the slightest though, as we enjoy being waited on, and I personally fell in love with their meatballs 'n spaghetti, followed by fruit cobbler for dessert, last time we came to Disneyland.

Friday, 17 December

Today we've locked in the ten hour LA/Hollywood Experience. This was one of our excursions we cancelled last time, and we're looking forward to finally going ahead with it, three years later. Hope the weather will be good! (On the day we would've been on it in 2007, it rained.)

Saturday, 18 December

Our last out of park excursion, is to Knott's Berry Farm. I'm sooooooooo looking forward to going on Elf Mountain Christmas, and seeing all the super corny scenes again. This time I hope we have to time to go on it more than once, as I'd love to capture it on film. I so hope it hasn't changed! We're both looking forward to going on the white river raft ride we totally missed last time, and Nest is particularly looking forward to collecting all the Snoopy Christmas themed pressed pennies (we didn't discover them until we were on our way out of the park last time, and by that stage, we no longer had the correct change on us, and didn't have time to sort that problem out.) Another of my goals, is to ride the scary rollercoasters without shutting my eyes - LOL! Nest has also requested that we have a relaxed dinner of Mrs Knotts' famous chicken - last time Nest had to race to hold the coach for me, while I waited for our chicken to be boxed up at the takeout counter (after all that rushing, it turned out that we were the second party to arrive and board the coach.) Oh, and I'm also getting more than one chocolate cookie from the bakery attached to the chicken takeout place. Goodness knows why I only got one to share last time - it tasted so super yummy!

Sunday, 19 December

Today will be totally devoted to both Disney parks. There was so much we didn't get done during our stay last time, and that was for two weeks! So goodness knows how we're going to experience everything in these last remaining two days, but we're sure going to have good fun trying!

Monday, 20 December

As above

Tuesday, 21 December

Our super magical holiday ends at 10.45pm, when we board our flight back home to Australia . Because our flight departs so late, at least we'll have time to zig zag between both Disney parks!

Thursday, 23 December

We arrive back in our hometown right on lunchtime, the day before Christmas Eve