Trip Planning Well Underway

[mushu mama]

Wow....how gorgeous is that place?

I love the bed heads with the gold castle and all the beautiful Disney details everywhere - just magic. -/
And was that a little supermarket type of thing on the property?

I hadn't had a look until today... Just think, some lucky souls are laying their heads on those sumptuous pillows as I type this - this being opening day.

I want to stay there too (one day).

Lisa. */

[ajp]

Wonder if I will be the first club member to stay there?

Nows there's a thought ...

[sandie]

Nows there's a thought ...

If you are going on a trip you need to spill the beans - my heart can only take one mystery trip a year

Sandie

[ajp]

It won't be a mystery trip. We're going to fly on points and have spent the last couple of days trying to find available flights that suit. So when we get that balance right, it'll happen. Hong Kong then Tokyo (or vice versa).

[mushu mama]

Nows there's a thought ...

If you are going on a trip you need to spill the beans - my heart can only take one mystery trip a year

.... sorry Sandie... I hope your ticker has recovered now... I'll give you a heads up next time. ...

I promise that if I have the opportunity to post this message:
'Hi everyone... .guess where I am? Are you sitting down?
yep, I'm at the new Disney hotel in Tokyo...'

I'll send you this email first..." Hi Sandie... better have a bex and a lie down - there's a shock coming'.... just so you survive it.

Lisa.

[mushu mama]

Sandie hows the planning going?

Seeing as you are the guru of trip planning and Tokyo is my probable next Disney trip, just wondering if you have booked your accom and if theres someone you'd recommend? Any tips that you can pass on ... websites, etc? I won my trip there last time so I don't really know where to start .... I don't even know when I want to go, so when I saw Keith mentioned something about getting the best deals through that UK site 2 YEARS IN ADVANCE ( sheesh) I thought I better get thinking about it cos I know just how exy Tokyo can be, and I want to get any savings I can wangle.

Anyone else got some great tips re: accom near TDL?

Theres a Duffy bear just waiting for me to get there one day.

Lisa.

[sandie]

I have my heart set on staying 4 days each at Miracosta and the Disneyland Hotel. Yes they are expensive but as my best friend is coming too I only have to pay half the room cost. Gerard put me in touch with his travel agent who is great (I will email contact details). Normally I am more than comfortable doing this stuff myself and its kind of like my hobby but both these hotels only accept online bookings from Japanese residents.

I have ordered Kevin Yee's book and have the days planned:

15th April (Eli's birthday):Travel and arrive check into MiraCosta
16th April:Disneyland
17th April:Disney Seas
18th April:Day at the spa at Mira Costa (just to get into that awesome pool), shopping and Cirque at night
19th April:Disney Seas
20th April:Disneyland
21st April:Tokyo Tour
22nd April:Disney Seas
23rd April:Either park until Eli and I have to get back to the airport. My friend will be meeting her boyfriend and travelling a bit more

Only thing I am stuck on is airport transfers.

And yes you should get planning - with this one underway I just started yesterday on our 2010 trip to the US which thanks to some well placed nagging will now include only 16 nights at WDW but a 7 day Disney cruise as well!!! Hopefully the Western one as we want to visit the ruins in Cozmel.

Sandie

[mushu mama]

That sounds awesome. Sounds very much like what I (at this early stage) plan to do. I'm also toying with doing HK DL while I'm in that part of the world so I might have to pick Anthony's brains about the best way to do that as well.

Great news on the Disney Cruise addition. I'd love to do that - right down to visiting the ruins at Cozumel. I really want to see South America and all the 'old' stuff hidden in the jungles...
Its all on the list.

Keep us updated.

Lisa */

[churros]

Only thing I am stuck on is airport transfers.

Sandie you must listen to the podcast "Meandering Mouse". He flew out from Houston to Japan on 4 July and recorded his trip. When he arrived in Tokyo he took a train which he thought was a much better option than the bus he took on his last trip. He provides very good information about costs, stations, times etc. You will really enjoy his commentary!
http://meanderingmouse.libsyn.com/
Episode #83

And yes you should get planning - with this one underway I just started yesterday on our 2010 trip to the US which thanks to some well placed nagging will now include only 16 nights at WDW but a 7 day Disney cruise as well!!! Hopefully the Western one as we want to visit the ruins in Cozmel.

I have started a bit of advanced planning myself. I contacted a Disney cruise specialist in the US about a club west coast cruise in 2010. The problem is DCL don't do west coast cruises each year and they haven't released 2010 yet but she is going to keep me informed so that if we want to do this as a club she can put a hold on the cabins while we plan.

[Mel]

Only thing I am stuck on is airport transfers.


Sandie

We got a limousine bus transfer to our hotel on our first day and then did the Narita Express (NEX) train on the way home. Both were quite good, the only main difference being that the bus took us right to our hotel whereas with the train we had to go to one of the main Tokyo stations (can't remember the name right now) which was a bit of a struggle with all our added luggage. Once on the train though it was all good and much faster than the bus.

[calisota]

Hopefully the Western one as we want to visit the ruins in Cozmel. Sandie

That looks like a good one. Grand Cayman was one of my favourites, there are a couple of antique shops that have genuine pirate stuff for sale and I also had my regular coffee shop. Probably the most shopping opportunities of the islands but it is one of the more expensive ones. They take US dollars but the prices are usually marked in Cayman dollars which are worth a little more than US. You can go snorkelling right out from the centre of town and the submarine rides are worth it because there are a couple of shipwrecks in the middle of the harbour that they go over. It was beaten up pretty badly by a hurricane though so it was still a tender port when I was there and the museum was being renovated.

Cozumel is great. If you want to see the ruins then it will probably be an all day thing. The best ones are on the mainland so you have to take a ferry from the island of Cozumel and then a long bus ride to get there. I went to Tulum and it has to be one of the most spectacular settings for an ancient ruin you have ever seen. If you are going to do it then take the ship organised tour because then you know that if anything goes wrong the ship will wait for you or take care of you. You can read my account of my trip there at http://planettrekker.info/cruise/2007/0 ... -waitings/

The shopping is not so great at Cozumel, obviously apart from the Mexican souvenirs, but the cheap beer and Mexican food is fantastic especially with a roving mariachi band playing and all the colours and smells around you. Cozumel was a port that I really looked forward to each fortnight.

Greg

[Mel]

I think I'd choose a Western Caribbean cruise again too. I didn't go with Disney last time, I went with Royal Caribbean and it was awesome. Mind you the details are a bit sketchy since I was 20 and indulged in a wee too much rum punch - hey, it was the Caribbean after all!

Grand Cayman was my fave port though. It was just beautiful. We also went horse riding in Mexico where they tried to get us to drink beer and tequila - together We were disappointed with Jamaica. I'd love to go again. In fact, looking out my window right now, a visit to the sunny Caribbean would be perfect!

[calisota]

We were disappointed with Jamaica.

We used to go to Ocho Rios in Jamaica every fortnight and the cruise director did the same joke every cruise. "Ocho Rios is Jamaican for "didn't get off the ship". I didn't mind it but only because I wandered up into the further reaches of town on my first visit and found a small bar full of locals. Every time I would go back there, eat curried goat, drink Red Stripe beer and watch the cricket on TV.

Greg

[mushu mama]

eat curried goat, Greg

Bleugh.....

the cricket I could handle.

Lisa.

[mushu mama]

How about an update on your trip Sandie... I guess everything is set in stone now anyway and there is little to do but wait?
Have you started your own private countdown - knowing that you can't chat to Eloise about it.. when do you plan to tell her she's on her way to Tokyo? on the plane?


Lisa.