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I am so happy you're going to be doing a trip report too - duelling trip reports although you will be way ahead of me, as I've got the Alaskan cruise to cover first.
I find it spooky too how often our plans overlap, but it's wonderful too, as we absolutely love spending time with you on our vacations and we can't wait to see you again.
Well, I'm not quite as diligent as you are with your daily updates, but I think with you having more than a week to get through and me with only about 5 days before we're together, I might be ahead of you. Just about a week to go until I see you guys!
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Originally Posted by Hugmonster
Signing in to follow along and learn more.. You reminded me that I need to confirm our dates for next March and pray for a Studio to be available.
Hope you get a studio!
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Originally Posted by lauriep
This is exciting, Sharon! I think the Disney-related ABD tours are especially exciting because of the exclusives they can offer. Hannah is wonderful and the best reason ever for changing trip dates! She's a lucky little girl to have you for an Aunt. I think you were just practicing your spoiling skills on the boys and we ain't seen nuthin' yet!!
Oh yeah, she's gonna be spoiled BIG TIME!
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Originally Posted by rphstearns
You sound like so much fun!!!! I can't wait for the rest of this TR
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Originally Posted by oldmom
can't wait for the rest of the trip
Another update coming soon!
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Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
Hooray! A full-fledged TR!
Your niece is beautiful! Does this mean Isaiah is a big brother, or is Hannah in another brother's family?
Looking forward to all the details of the trip. All these DL trips all of a sudden make me want to get back there.
Sorry, I should've explained that! Yes, Hannah is the baby sister of the three boys. And they love having a little sister around.
And there is quite a lot of action in the DL TR forum all of a sudden!
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Originally Posted by Cam22
Hannah is a doll! I'm loving all your planning details, too.
Thanks, she's sooooo sweet!
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Originally Posted by mpwife153
I'm so happy you came out of retirement! I was having some serious P-Sha withdrawal
Glad I could help.
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Originally Posted by dutchdisneyfamily
You know I live your TRs for where ever they are! I cannot wait to read all about this. I know it can be tiring but I just soak it all up. And your new niece is absolutely precious!!
I'm looking forward to sharing the fun!
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Originally Posted by MayraLR
Yay, another Sharon trip report! Love the title!
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Originally Posted by Huntermom
So excited to see another TR from you. You are one of my favorite writers and photographers. And your family makes beautiful children and Hannah is one of my favorite names.
Aww, thanks for the kind words.
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Originally Posted by mcc0313
I am so glad you are out of "retirement" and writing a TR for this trip. I cannot wait to hear all about it and it combines tons of fun. An ABD, Disneyland, time with friends and a stop over at US. Sounds like the perfect trip.
And you added a pic of that cute baby Hannah....it's a wrap.....you definitely come out of retirement in style
It's going to be a blast. Thanks again for helping with it!
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Originally Posted by CinderAbby
I'm looking forward to joining in on this whether it's a full TR or a photo TR. You always make it fun and enjoyable. And what a great reason for delaying a trip. Congrats on becoming an aunt again.
Thanks! Even the boys didn't mind missing Disney to welcome their new baby sister. When she gets older, they might find her to be a pesky little sister, but right now, they love her.
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
Signing in! Looking forward to this for a few reasons. 1- I love San Fransisco and will be excited to read about the ABD trip. 2 - I've never been to DisneyLand, so looking forward to that portion as well. And 3 - I really like your TR's.
Thanks! I am really looking forward to it!
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Originally Posted by pamcarey
Oh wow, this is going to be a great TR! I love your TRs and I love reading about ABDs.
Congrats on the new niece! She is adorable! Which family does she belong to? Also, what's this about Instagram? I would love to follow you on Instagram, if you don't mind posting your Instagram name.
Hannah is the baby sister of my three nephews. And I'd love to have you follow me on Instagram!
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Originally Posted by booklady1
Hi Sharon. I am very happy that you came out of trip report retirement! I love reading your reports and seeing your great photos!! Congratulations on the birth of your beautiful niece.
Thanks!
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Originally Posted by SharonK0527
SO glad you came out of retirement! I miss your TR's!! I am especially looking forward to following this one because my family is doing a 2 week trip to California next summer. We're going to fly into San Diego, visit with family for several days and then spend 10 days driving up the coast from San Diego to San Francisco with multi-day stops in Anaheim, Los Angeles, Solvang (outside Santa Barbara), Carmel/Monterey, and San Francisco (and anywhere else we feel like stopping along the way LOL). I can't wait to read all about your Southern CA trip so I can learn from your wisdom!
Signing on and looking forward to more!!
I hope this will help. I'm excited about our road trip. But I'm excited about everything on my itinerary.
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Originally Posted by wheezie
Signing on! I love your TR/non TR so I'm excited to read more. And your niece is beautiful! Such a little doll.
Thanks, she is a doll.
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Originally Posted by HollyH
What an adorable little niece you have! Congrats!
Can't wait to hear all about your trip. I did a San Fran to Disneyland and LA trip this summer and it was fantastic and I'm hoping I get to relive some of it thru your TR. I really can't wait to hear about the ABD portion. I'm dying to take an ABD trip someday, but my wallet isn't cooperating . I've got a big birthday coming up in a couple of years, maybe that needs to be my splurge .
Thaks! ABD is a great way to celebrate a big birthday!
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Originally Posted by tcmary
Thanks for coming out of retirement for us. I am looking forward to your ABD SanFrancisco. It's a favorite city of mine and look forward to seeing it through your photos.
Woohoo, for a west coast Disney adventure with Karen. That should be a hoot! Add inCheryl and Mark and it sounds like a fun reunion. (Missing the clique.)
Congrats on the birth of your beautiful niece. We'll hold you to writing a tr for her first princess adventure. Your family is lucky to be blessed with gorgeous children.
Safe travels.
It's going to be an awesome trip for sure! And
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
As I mentioned before, I’ve been to San Francisco once before, but amazingly, I haven’t done a single thing on the ABD itinerary. I honestly think there’s some CM at Disney whose job it is to come up with ways to separate me from my money!
The only thing that won’t be new for me as far as the ABD goes is the hotel. I stayed at the Fairmont my last time in San Francisco! It was a beautiful hotel and I loved my stay there, so good choice, ABD!
One of the fun things about doing an Adventures By Disney trip is all the fun surprises they throw in. If you don’t want to be spoiled, this isn’t the TR for you! But I’ll do my best to warn when ABD spoilers are coming, just in case. If you really don’t want to see, go ahead and skip down to the next post. Click here to skip directly to the next post.
SPOILER WARNING!
With about 45 days to go until my trip, I received a box in the mail. I opened it up to find a bag! And then another box, and another bag… Just kidding! But it was a bag.
This bag was really just to hold the goodies, but I’m going to put it to use as a laundry bag during my trip. And here’s what was inside the bag.
It contained a nice tote bag, a suitcase strap, and what feels like a leather case for a tablet, though I don’t know if it’s actually leather. And there’s a nice luggage tag that also could be leather. It also included some luggage tags for ABD’s use and the little booklet with our itinerary and travel tips, and a couple of tip envelopes for the guides.
The inside of the tablet case (as well as the shoulder strap it comes with)
Continued…
Last edited by PrincessSharon; 08-31-2015 at 03:59 PM..
Here’s how my itinerary will go. The Disneyland portion is kind of vague, but you’ll get the details when I come back and write the TR!
Day 1
I fly into SFO and have the entire day to myself (the ABD starts on day 2). I needed to fly in a day early, because the ABD starts with breakfast on Day 2. There’s no way anyone can arrive the morning it starts.
Once I land at SFO, an ABD rep will be there to meet me and take me to the Fairmont to check in. Once I’m settled, I will probably do a bit of sightseeing in the afternoon (most likely in Chinatown – I love to walk around there, and we won’t be doing that during the ABD). I’m meeting Karen for dinner that night.
Day 2
The ABD starts with a welcome breakfast at the Fairmont. Then we go on a bike ride along San Francisco Bay. The major sights we’ll see are Fisherman’s Wharf, the Palace of Fine Arts, and Fort Point. Lunch is at M.Y. China, which is a Chinese restaurant run by celebrity chef Martin Yan (explaining the name ). We’ll have some free time after lunch in Union Square. Dinner is at Waterbar, a seafood restaurant with great views of the bay. We’ll finish the night with a night coach tour and Twin Peaks.
Day 3
Day 2 of the ABD begins with a trip to Napa Valley. We’ll tour the Silverado Vineyards (founded by Walt Disney’s daughter, Diane Disney Miller, and her husband Ron Miller). We get to tour the winery and barrel room and have a wine-blending master class. I’m kind of a wine novice, but this seems like it’ll be a ton of fun! We have a catered lunch at the Vineyard and then will head out to tour Muir Woods National Monument. Dinner is on my own, but I plan to meet Karen and her son Zack for dinner. I don’t know where we’ll have dinner, but it’s my dining companions that are important, so we can go to McDonalds and I’d be happy. … I sure hope it’s not McDonalds.
Day 4
The ABD itinerary is supposed to begin with a trip to Angel Island. Normally, ABD guests would take a ferry to Angel Island State Park and enjoy a tram tour and picnic lunch. However, because it’s Labor Day weekend, they’re not allowing tours on Angel Island, so we’re going on a private boat cruise of San Francisco Bay aboard the Tamalpais. We get a gourmet boxed lunch onboard, catered by Luna Blu, which is an Italian Restaurant in Tiburon. Next we’ll head for the Presidio for a privately guided tour of Lucasfilm. How cool is that? It says we’ll have “a viewing of original Star Wars paraphernalia such as prototype Light Sabres and costumes worn by Darth Vader and Bobba Fett.” Now anyone who knows me knows I’m no Star Wars fan, but here’s a secret confession, just between us: I kind of love Darth Vader. Not having seen any of the films, he could be a total jerk or a really lame character and I just don’t know it, but if he is, don’t tell me! But wait, there’s more! We’ll also have a privately guided tour of the Walt Disney Family Museum. Then, to ONE Market for our farewell dinner.
Day 5
Karen is picking me up bright and early and we’re making the drive down the coast to LA. Karen has a lunch stop planned in Avila Beach. Once we arrive in Anaheim, we’ll check in at the Disneyland Hotel and get settled. I don’t think we’re going to go into the park (it’s a blackout night), but we can actually watch the fireworks from either the concierge lounge or our room, so that’s a plus! I am going to take care of getting my Premier Passport so we can get that out of the way.
Day 6
For our days at Disneyland, we will tour with a good deal of park hopping built in, with it being so convenient to do. I’ll just outline our meals and stuff here. We’re doing the Fantasmic! dinner package at River Belle Terrace, along with F! and topping off the night with Disneyland Forever fireworks.
Day 7
No sit down meals, but we’re doing the Paint the Night parade and Disneyland Forever fireworks again.
Day 8
Goofy’s Kitchen and then park touring, capped off with the parade and fireworks again.
Day 9
World of Color dinner package at Carthay Circle with Cheryl and Mark.
Day 10
Karen is heading back home. I will probably hang out at Disneyland at least long enough to ride the Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain, both of which are opening after short refurbs (HM to put in the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay and Space Mountain to put in their Halloween overlay). I’ll also have to say goodbye to Cheryl and Mark.
Then I’m picking up a rental car in Downtown Disney and driving to LA. I hope to do the California Science Center and I’ve always wanted to see the La Brea Tar Pits, so that’s on the itinerary this day. I’ll check in at my hotel and then maybe see some sights nearby. I remember from my Backstage Magic ABD that there’s an In-N-Out burger very close to the hotel, so that’s probably my dinner this night!
Day 11
I plan to head to Universal Studios for the day. I booked the VIP Tour, so that should be fun. The VIP Tour also includes front-of-the-line access all day, so I can ride as much as I want. I will probably grab a quick dinner at City Walk before I have to drive to the airport and catch the redeye back to NY.
Typing it all out like this is making me even more excited!
Up Next: Final details
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
Just as I'd expect, ABD fits more into a trip than you could possibly manage on your own! I can't believe all you're doing in the 3 days of the tour! Can't wait to read the TR for this one!
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What a fantastic trip!! And love the swag so far! I really want to do an ABD trip, as they just seem spectacular.
Hope you get to see some fireworks at DL.
The ABD itinerary sounds like so much fun. I really want to visit the Walt Disney Family Museum some day. Getting to see inside Lucasfilm would be perfect for Luke and me. Disneyland plans though vague sound good, too.
Sounds like an amazing trip! Great that you are staying at the Fairmont as I've heard so many good things about this hotel over the years! I know it's in one of the hill sections of SF, but unsure of where? My parents actually stayed there back in the late 80's or early 90's. It's funny that at the same time, they got upgraded to a suite (my father's persistence as a business man and got what he wanted as the first room wasn't great. ). They were actually on the same floor with Frank Sinatra and his posse and he actually said hello to my parents on at least one occasion!
Your excursion to Silverado Vineyards should be great as I know their wines. I visited a small vineyard back in the early 20003s called Viansa which was great and the view overlooking the Napa hills was almost as good as the wine!
Have you ever seen the movie "Sideways" Maybe a good one to see before your wine tour!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
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although you will be way ahead of me, as I've got the Alaskan cruise to cover first. 
I'm loving all your planning details, too. 
. I've got a big birthday coming up in a couple of years, maybe that needs to be my splurge 
I opened it up to find a bag! And then another box, and another bag… Just kidding! 
(most likely in Chinatown – I love to walk around there, and we won’t be doing that during the ABD). I’m meeting Karen for dinner that night. 
We have a catered lunch at the Vineyard and then will head out to tour Muir Woods National Monument. Dinner is on my own, but I plan to meet Karen and her son Zack for dinner. I don’t know where we’ll have dinner, but it’s my dining companions that are important, so we can go to McDonalds and I’d be happy. … 
I sure hope it’s not McDonalds. 
Next we’ll head for the Presidio for a privately guided tour of Lucasfilm. How cool is that? 
I kind of love Darth Vader. Not having seen any of the films, he could be a total jerk or a really lame character and I just don’t know it, but if he is, don’t tell me! 
Then, to ONE Market for our farewell dinner. 
Karen has a lunch stop planned in Avila Beach. Once we arrive in Anaheim, we’ll check in at the Disneyland Hotel and get settled. I don’t think we’re going to go into the park (it’s a blackout night), but we can actually watch the fireworks from either the concierge lounge or our room, so that’s a plus! 
I will probably hang out at Disneyland at least long enough to ride the Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain, both of which are opening after short refurbs (HM to put in the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay and Space Mountain to put in their Halloween overlay). I’ll also have to say goodbye to Cheryl and Mark. 
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Great that you are staying at the Fairmont as I've heard so many good things about this hotel over the years! 
Maybe a good one to see before your wine tour! 
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