Travel Card ✓

Hey Hey!

So today was the day. The funds were cleared from my bank account.
I went to ANZ and withdrew $1000.00 cold, hard cash!
Was amazing to hold in my hand.

And into Australia Post I went.
After a few questions, handing over my drivers license and medicare card then followed the dreaded: handing over my cash. :(

It was a sad moment, but it got me this:

And on this it holds: One Thousand and Fourty Nine Dollars! (And some cents like .05 or something) 

HAPPY DAYS! The America fund has begun!

Stay tuned guys, 6 days until the background check gets sent away!

Until then

Stay Magical. 

xx

Accomodation and Transfers

Hello.

Badabing badaboom. Things are rolling along quite nicely.

I received our updated travel itinerary yesterday and today I went and put my half of our accommodation and transfer into Amy's (check her blog out: amysdisneyadventure) bank account today. So now it's official I have a bed to sleep in and a way from the airport early in the morning to my room. In the words of Charlie Sheen WINNING!

Picture of the hotel we will be staying at:  

Also Christine from NZ (check out her blog: kiwidisney) will be traveling with us from LAX to Orlando on our flight, which is exciting.

As for our 9 hour layover I'm thinking maybe jumping in a cab and going down to Santa Monica for a few hours to kill some time. Airports are kinda boring after an hour or so.

So yeah, Santa Monica hasn't been decided yet, but hopefully we can do that : )

Also Tax should be back soon, so I can pay off my flights and put some money on a spending card. Yipee, and only 10 days until I can send off my police check, which is when my next update will probably be.

Also we have been discussing ideas for hoodies and shirts and these are the most popular designs so far:

Christine's:

Mikaela's:

So a poll will go up on the groups facebook page soon and hopefully a design will be selected. : )

But anywho, until next time.
Stay Magical.
x

LAX to Orlando

Hey Hey.

So not much has been happening on the Disney front, but today Amy went in and booked and paid for out flights from LAX to Orlando.

She is super nice in doing so and I'll just put the money in her bank account rather then pay STA. We decided to go down this route so we know our seats are there ready to go and we won't be stranded in LAX and have to fork out another night of accommodation.

Like she said if I didn't pay there would be two very awkward long flights ahead, but I'm not stressing, tax comes back soon and the flights work out to be roughly just under what I earn a week at work if I do the minimum hours. Hopefully though extra shifts will be coming along soon and extra hours which mean extra money.

So yeah that's pretty much it. I've also just been reading blogs of people who are about to get over there and start the program and then back tracking to who they followed etc etc, to get ideas of how it all works and what not.

Until next time.
xx

Flights ✓ Insurance ?

So, Amy went and paid our flight deposits on Monday, so I have my flights and have until September 19th to pay them off, but plan on paying them back as soon as Tax comes back.

We have decided that when we arrive in Orlando we are going to pay for a private transfer, which means when we land someone will be waiting holding a sign with our names on it. WINNING. I think I might just feel a little famous for a few seconds haha.

We have also decided to stay in a resort/hotel right next to Vista Way as long as we can still get it, and I checked to make sure we can book, because some you need to be over 21 but this on is in our favour with someone having to be over 18 which we both are. : )It will cost $105 for two night including breakfast!! Yay. Food for our tummies.

Now the big one:

I N S U R A N C E

Amy and the travel agent compared Cover More (he said that it's one of the most reliable one out there) and STA travel's Cover More travel insurance. To get the insurance that we will need for our Visa (ie. meets all those requirements) he showed her two options for each insurance.

The first figures are based on an excess of $250 Cover More was at: $1543 and STA Travel Cover More Insurance is at $2162. Differences being obviously how much the insurer will pay out.

Then there's the one with $0 excess to be paid whenever making a claim; CoverMore: $2023 and STA CoverMore: $2455. Same differences with how much you get back when making a claim etc.

So I said to Amy to possibly take in the 1Cover quote I found and see if they will price match, otherwise we can go to Flight Centre or something and get a price match there - I have read other blogs and been following people about to go over and the said they got price matches.

So that's all for now.
Stay Magical
xx

To Infinity and Beyond

Hey, 

So today while at uni Amy went into STA travel and talked to them and she was quoted at $2196 return flying Air New Zealand, which is cheaper then V Australia and we don't have to pay to fly to Sydney which is another bonus as we will be leaving from Brisbane.

So the new itinerary will be:

Wednesday 4th January 

Flying Air New Zealand

Depart Brisbane at 11:15am

Arrive in Auckland at 17:25

Depart Auckland at 22:45 

Arrive in LAX at 14:00 

Flying Delta Airlines

Depart LAX at 22:50

Thursday 5th January

Arrive in Orlando at 06:34am  

So all up the flights will cost  $2,425 (the extra $229 is from Delta) which is AMAZING. So I will be transferring $50 to Amy over the next few days and she will be putting that deposit down, and then I have until September 18th to pay the rest owing. So hopefully on Monday I will have my flights and can then begin focusing on my Visa application and Background Checks. 

So once they are done we can also begin looking into accomodation and packages for Universal Studios and Harry Potter World. So a very few exciting days are coming up for me. 

Until next time,
Have a magical night.

xx

And the winning date is...

Hey,

So yesterday afternoon as I finished work I received a text from Amy informing me that our program dates are from January 7, 2012 through to January 4, 2013. 

Yes you read right, January 7 is when I need to be in Orlando ready to be checking in that morning.

So now I know my exact travel dates, today I will pop into Travel Centre and see what quotes I can get. : ) And pick up some brochures of Orlando.

Also in other news it means that instead of finishing at Dreamworld in mid January, I'll finish in late December, and I'm doing an amazing job of keeping up with my blog. (Maybe just a little to much)

Until next time,
Have a magical day.
xx

Accepted with 7 months to go.

Hi everyone.

So, last Wednesday the 1st of June, I finally received the e-mail I had been waiting weeks for. I have been offered a position to work at Walt Disney World for a whole year! I was ecstatic to say the least. I was at coffee with a friend and I'm sure everyone who walked past was thinking what the hell just happened?!

So not much can be done presently because my background check can't be sent away until August 1st but has to be received by October 10th. The US require the check to be valid for 6 months before the trip. So I'm counting down the days until I can actually do something.

I've been looking at flight prices and they are fairly expensive at the moment so I'm considering possibly flying from either Brisbane to LAX direct or from Sydney and paying for the flight to Orlando separately as it works out cheaper and if I do that I may stay a day or 2 in LA and do Disney and Universal there just for the experience. Still not sure yet though. Depends on the $$ really. Will be easier though when I hear the dates we need to be there from STB so I can start getting actual quotes.

I have also been looking around for travel insurance and it also seems fairly expensive but hopefully later on when I have exact details it will wind up cheaper somewhere.

January at the moment seems to be so incredibly far away and it is a tad annoying, but I know that this 7 months will go super fast, even faster once I know the dates and start saving and paying off things. I have also decided that I will be buying a Travel Card soon and loading it with a portion of my Tax return because the rate is good at the moment, and I know that I will have USD$1,000 ready to go once I get there but hopefully more, and I won't be able to spend it until I get there which is a bonus!

So I will hopefully be updating this every time something happens and while I'm away on this magical experience.

Until next time.
xx