National parks, natural beauty and a bit of Disney wonder! PRE-TRIP AND DURING TRIP REPORT COMPLETED - Page 7 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Just caught up with your last couple updates, and I have to say, I'm so impressed with all your plans. I've never planned a trip with as many things involved in an itinerary as your trip. Kudos to you for your planning skills It really sounds like a fantastic trip!
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I am always astonished at how you keep everything so organized and get everything done. Virgin Atlantic sure kept you on your toes, so glad that you were able to rework the plans so that you were able to use the points.
I will be keeping my fingers crossed for Palo, glad you were able to get the dinner reservation.
Sorry to hijack your thread a bit, but I wanted to post some pics that might help you with World of Color, and I figured I'd put it here in case anyone else was interested as well.
I tried to take some pictures at DCA today to show you the viewing area, but of course they had a big stage set up for a Disney Channel music/dance show, so it's a bit difficult to show you what it will look like in the evening. Keep in mind that when you get escorted to the viewing area (with your WoC dining fast pass), the entire area will be filled with people, so you probably won't be able to see all the different levels very clearly. I hope this explanation makes sense.
This is basically "street" level where you will be walking over to the viewing area. The guy with the yellow shirt with #9 is where you will start going down steps and/or ramps to get to the lower levels.
Here are the next few levels going down (where I'm standing is just a few steps ahead of where I took the prior picture, so imagine that the guy with the yellow shirt is standing about 10 feet to my right as I take this picture). That huge stage is set up on the very bottom level viewing area where you can go (which I wouldn't advise because it's right on the water, and the spray will sometimes hit you quite a bit and get you a tad wet...not to mention getting your camera wet!). See the two CM's in their maroon vests in the middle? That's where you will continue to go down toward your viewing area.
The area that I suggest is right in front of that stage, which is basically the 2nd level up from the water.
Now, here's a view from the side. See the guy in the blue shirt standing in the middle of the picture? That's approximately where the 2 CM's with the maroon vests were standing in the prior picture. When you go down the steps right by the guy with the blue shirt and then end up on the same level as the guy with the yellow shirt sitting on the ground, that's the 2nd level up from the water and where I think is the best view. Can you sort of see a curved railing along the very front of the stage? That's where I would recommend you try to get a spot if you can at the center or right of center along that curved railing. I think that's where you would get the best view.
Also in the picture above, in the left of the picture you see some steps going down to the bottom level (in the below picture the steps are in the middle of the picture)? If you think you need to sit down, that's a good spot to grab if you want to sit before or during the show. Imagine that giant stage gone, and that curved railing open for viewing. If you are standing at those stairs and looking out toward the ferris wheel (which you can see in the picture below), you'll have a fairly unobstructed view of the show.
I know it's hard to visualize with that stage there, but you can see how the foot of the stage is curved because it's built to fit into the curved railing that's there. With that stage gone, that entire area is open to look out over the lake.
I had hoped to get some good pictures of the area for you, but of all days for them to put up that stage!
Anyhow, I hope that helps you and anyone else who's curious about World of Color!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Great plans Cheryl!! Can't wait to read more. When we did Panama Canal we were not able to get Palo online - and ended up with 3 Palo meals before the end of the cruise - all booked on board.
Pre-trip report – part six: things are getting fully booked!
I spent the next couple of weeks, while waiting for the next credit card month to roll around, putting some flesh on the bones of our plans. It just didn’t feel detailed enough, as all I had was where we’d be each day and details of any hotel, car rental or flights. Apart from the cruise, where I now had some plans, certainly for the days we were in port, and a vague idea of what might be offered on the days at sea, I really had nothing else in place.
I went through guidebooks methodically, starting with Disneyland and my trusty PassPorter. Sure it’s a bit old now, but it’s still a goodie. I didn’t want to plan too much, as we won’t have too much time there. We’ve got a full day on the Saturday and then until the early afternoon on the Sunday and that’s it. All I did was drew up a list of must-do attractions, which was very, very short. In fact, it only had four things on it: the Finding Nemo submarines at the Disneyland Park and the new Little Mermaid ride, the new night-time World of Colour show and the Aladdin show, which we’ve never managed to see on our previous two visits, at the California Adventure. I then made a list of other attractions that I wouldn’t mind seeing/doing, just to supplement that.
It was the same process for Vancouver and, by going back and reading my guidebook, I quickly realised that there were a few priorities to see. The first was a walk through the Gastown and Chinatown areas including the Chinese Garden, the second was the Lookout Centre to get a view from above of the city, the third was Stanley Park and all its various attractions, and the fourth was the Granville Island markets. Having worked that out, then it became obvious that a hop-on, hop-off trolley would be the best way to get around and reach all of those, so there’s a good plan for the day. I immediately got hold of my friend Joy, who was going to be in Vancouver at the same time as us, and we agreed a plan to meet up. It would be great to see her again.
Again, I followed the same process with Seattle and came up with the must-do attractions. Looking at them, and they included the Space Needle, the Experience Music Project, the monorail up to both of these attractions, and the Pike Place area. Other possible options were the Pacific Science Centre, Seattle Aquarium, and all of these are covered by the Seattle City Pass, so that looked like something which will make sense for us to get.
I then started to explore information on the national parks and almost became overwhelmed by how much there was to read! My Frommer’s book on the national parks of the West became my best friend, with so much useful information on what to see if you only have a day in the park, details of where to eat and stay, and potential driving routes through the parks. It was a fascinating read and I learnt so much. It also finally started to make sense to me just how big each of the parks were and how many amazing facts and figures there were for each. It’s going to be amazing to see all of these first hand.
Finally, it was time to make some more bookings, once the cash was available. The first thing that I was most concerned to get sorted out was our accommodation for Bryce Canyon, as the options seemed to be rapidly diminishing! Every time I found something that was reasonably priced and had good reviews, it was fully booked. I was starting to get a bit concerned. Thank goodness for my Frommer’s book, as that gave me lots of options to try. Eventually, I settled on Bryce Country Cabins, as they had a fairly good write-up and weren’t a bad price.
When it came to staying the night in the Grand Tetons, I did look into Jackson Lake Lodge and that was my first preference, but isn’t it always the way, we just didn’t have the money for it. In the end, I went for the cabins at Colter Bay Village, as they were a lot cheaper and still seemed like a reasonable place to stay. I was intrigued to discover that they didn’t have a TV or telephone, and when I did a bit more research, I discovered that neither did the lodging in Yellowstone either. It would be interesting to be completely cut off for a couple of days. It’s not something I’m used to, so I wonder how I’ll cope! At least you can completely get away from everything... well, unless you can get a cell phone signal there of course...
When looking at our other destinations along our road trip, I tried to stick with well known names that had good reviews. As a result, I went for the Hampton Inn Orem for our stopping off point between the Grand Tetons and Bryce Canyon, and the Hampton Inn Rifle on the way to Chicago. I couldn’t believe the price I paid for them, considering what you get – with free breakfast, free Internet. Not bad at all!
For the stops in between I had to go for places that I hadn’t heard of, and that even went for the places we were staying in! I decided that Page would be a reasonable place to stop in between Zion Canyon and Monument Valley and I found the Lake Powell Resort there. Anything in Page was a lot pricier than the other stops along the route, but I guessed that was just how it was. I sucked it up and paid for a room there with breakfast, which came to $200. Hopefully it would be nice for that money....
No such issues for the next night. I was originally looking to stop in a place called Bluff, but literally all the options there were fully booked, so it was back to the map to see where else was nearby. I found a place called Blanding and there I found the Blue Mountain Inn, which was apparently a Comfort Inn in its previous life. I managed to book what sounded like a very nice room, including a spa pool (I’m assuming it’s a spa bath.. ) for $95. Now, that’s more like it!
Our final stop before our flight to Chicago would be in Rifle and here I was able to find a Hampton Inn, which again was very reasonably priced.
The final piece of the accommodation jigsaw was finding somewhere in Chicago. Well, oddly enough, I wasn’t going to get such a good deal there... big surprise, huh? I did a lot of checking on Trip Advisor for which hotels were highly recommended and then I checked that list with how much they cost through various search engines. In the end, I managed to find one, the Club Quarters, which I’d never heard of before, but I gather they have a number of them in the States, which was a good price and had pretty good reviews. Perhaps more importantly, it was also close to both the orange and blue Metro lines, as we’d be coming into Midway (on the orange line) and leaving through O’Hare (on the blue line). I didn’t want to be trekking any further with luggage than we absolutely had to. :
Conscious that this was going to be a long trip, which would require a lot of spending money along the way I also wanted to try and pre-pay for some things before we went. The Seattle City Pass, which was definitely going to pay for itself during our stay there, with everything I wanted to see, was the first thing I bought, to save the $120 fee for the two of us on the day.
The next thing I bought were tickets for the hop-on, hop-off trolley in Vancouver. If you bought your tickets online, you got your second day on it free. Well, whether we’d get to use a second day’s ticket, as we’d be boarding the Wonder on our second day in Vancouver, remained to be seen, but it was a good deal all the same...
That's a lot of hotels! That aspect of the trip I really wouldn't like, but how else can you see everything and cover all that ground? Should we start taking bets now on how many photos you'll take?
That's a lot of hotels! That aspect of the trip I really wouldn't like, but how else can you see everything and cover all that ground? Should we start taking bets now on how many photos you'll take?
I won't take that bet, but I can't wait to see them all that's for sure.
I'm exhausted just reading about all your plans! You really are packing a lot into your trip, but I can totally understand since it's not every day that you can visit the West coast of North America! I'm really looking forward to hearing about this trip and hope that you get to really enjoy each stop after all this planning!
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Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
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getting a ressie at Palo!
It really sounds like a fantastic trip!
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I didn’t want to plan too much, as we won’t have too much time there. We’ve got a full day on the Saturday and then until the early afternoon on the Sunday and that’s it. All I did was drew up a list of must-do attractions, which was very, very short. In fact, it only had four things on it: the Finding Nemo submarines at the Disneyland Park and the new Little Mermaid ride, the new night-time World of Colour show and the Aladdin show, which we’ve never managed to see on our previous two visits, at the California Adventure. I then made a list of other attractions that I wouldn’t mind seeing/doing, just to supplement that. 
At least you can completely get away from everything... well, unless you can get a cell phone signal there of course... 
I decided that Page would be a reasonable place to stop in between Zion Canyon and Monument Valley and I found the Lake Powell Resort there. Anything in Page was a lot pricier than the other stops along the route, but I guessed that was just how it was. 
I sucked it up and paid for a room there with breakfast, which came to $200. Hopefully it would be nice for that money.... 
) for $95. 
Now, that’s more like it! 
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