After much indecisiveness, I'm going back to the US.

[WanderlustNZ]

You guys are fantastic. Thanks for sharing!

I'm so pleased I asked about these holiday rentals. I'm actually looking seriously at magical getaway #4. It's great to read firsthand experiences that the process went well. Did you pay by credit card through VBRO? Was the process easy?

We're also looking at two called Funtierland 2 and Funtierland 3. The funtierland ones look like they have better lounge and dining areas to hang out as a family (and Netflix which has my DH sold), but Brittas one has nicer bedrooms.

 

[kylieh]

We're also checking into one on Sunday nightingale the same complex. I'll let you know what it's like.

 

[Caroline NZ]

Booked via VRBO and paid using Paypal, no problems at all.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

After what was probably way too much indecisiveness, I finally went ahead and booked a rental home.
http://www.vrbo.com/435694
I was really torn between this one and one other and the decision was kind of taken out of my hands when the other one became booked. It looks like the more popular of these rental places don't sit around for long, so I decided to snap this one up while I can. Plus it helped having two referees above that can vouch for the owner. Cheers ladies

I booked and paid the deposit through VRBO of and it was super easy.

So my plans now look like:

First night in LAX hotel.
Rent car and spend 3 nights in San Diego
7 nights in holiday home in Anaheim
Last night in LAX hotel then onwards to Honolulu for 3 nights.

I am looking seriously at hiring the car from Budget LAX. The prices are comparable and it has 3 or 4 good hotels surrounding it's depot which would make life super easy at the beginning and end of our trip. e.g. We can check in the car and then just walk across the road to our hotel. It will be easier than wasting time in shuttles back and forth to the airport and I actually don't mind spending a little bit more money for the convenience. Thanks kylieh for putting the idea in my head. I'm looking forward to hearing about your holiday rental.

So feeling very positive at present.

 

[zanzibar138]

Congrats! It's all coming together

I just went to VRBO, wondering what all the fuss was about... my goodness! No wonder you were indecisive! I've got about 50 tabs open on my poor computer now

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Congrats! It's all coming together I just went to VRBO, wondering what all the fuss was about... my goodness! No wonder you were indecisive! I've got about 50 tabs open on my poor computer now

I was in that place for the last week. There are so many wonderful properties, you sit there with dozens open on the computer and it's hard to know where to start. The competition amongst property owners seems to make some go the extra mile providing all sorts of goodies and amenities.

I eliminated all the ones with little to no feedback as well as all of those with complicated payment systems, and that got rid of a whole bunch.

 

[zanzibar138]

I was in that place for the last week. There are so many wonderful properties, you sit there with dozens open on the computer and it's hard to know where to start. The competition amongst property owners seems to make some go the extra mile providing all sorts of goodies and amenities.

I eliminated all the ones with little to no feedback as well as all of those with complicated payment systems, and that got rid of a whole bunch.

I'm now considering Mickey's Magical Getaway # 3! I was looking at booking 2 of the cheapest rooms at Stovall's Inn. This would work out less than $50 more expensive (over a week), plus it's probably closer to DLR, we'd all get to stay together, and have the living area space too, and get to self-cater a bit. No AAdvantage points though

I love # 4!

 

[WAMUMOF4]

After what was probably way too much indecisiveness, I finally went ahead and booked a rental home.
http://www.vrbo.com/435694
I was really torn between this one and one other and the decision was kind of taken out of my hands when the other one became booked. It looks like the more popular of these rental places don't sit around for long, so I decided to snap this one up while I can. Plus it helped having two referees above that can vouch for the owner. Cheers ladies

I booked and paid the deposit through VRBO of and it was super easy.

So my plans now look like:

First night in LAX hotel.
Rent car and spend 3 nights in San Diego
7 nights in holiday home in Anaheim
Last night in LAX hotel then onwards to Honolulu for 3 nights.

I am looking seriously at hiring the car from Budget LAX. The prices are comparable and it has 3 or 4 good hotels surrounding it's depot which would make life super easy at the beginning and end of our trip. e.g. We can check in the car and then just walk across the road to our hotel. It will be easier than wasting time in shuttles back and forth to the airport and I actually don't mind spending a little bit more money for the convenience. Thanks kylieh for putting the idea in my head. I'm looking forward to hearing about your holiday rental.

So feeling very positive at present.

It looks great Congrats on the booking

 

[WanderlustNZ]

I'm now considering Mickey's Magical Getaway # 3! I was looking at booking 2 of the cheapest rooms at Stovall's Inn. This would work out less than $50 more expensive (over a week), plus it's probably closer to DLR, we'd all get to stay together, and have the living area space too, and get to self-cater a bit. No AAdvantage points though I love # 4!

All of her properties look so lovely.

VBRO does not calculate the one night free, but if you contact Britta she amends the VBRO booking form to include this. You then just click a few buttons, pay the $300 deposit by credit card through VBRO, and you're set. It was way easier than I was expecting. Plus I emailed her a few questions and she always got back to me within an hour even when it was the middle of the night over there. I hope the rest of the process runs this smoothly.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

It looks great Congrats on the booking

Thanks WAMumof4. Exciting times ahead for both of us. I've been meaning to ask you, how did you enjoy your Panama Canal cruise? I'm secretly jealous of all the awesome cruise destinations you have been to and are going to.

 

[Caroline NZ]

Yay for booking Wanderlust . Once you have stayed in one of Brittas places you will never want to stay in a hotel again!

 

[zanzibar138]

All of her properties look so lovely.

VBRO does not calculate the one night free, but if you contact Britta she amends the VBRO booking form to include this. You then just click a few buttons, pay the $300 deposit by credit card through VBRO, and you're set. It was way easier than I was expecting. Plus I emailed her a few questions and she always got back to me within an hour even when it was the middle of the night over there. I hope the rest of the process runs this smoothly.

Oh I didn't even take the free night into consideration! That's even better then. Think I will have to seriously look at booking this

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Yay for booking Wanderlust . Once you have stayed in one of Brittas places you will never want to stay in a hotel again!

Thanks Caroline Your feedback has been a great help.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Oh I didn't even take the free night into consideration! That's even better then. Think I will have to seriously look at booking this

You may have already noticed, but all of her properties have You Tube videos which include a few more photos than what are included on the VRBO site.

 

[zanzibar138]

You may have already noticed, but all of her properties have You Tube videos which include a few more photos than what are included on the VRBO site.

Oooh I hadn't noticed! Thanks so much for the inspiration and information

Sorry for hijacking your thread And now we return to our regular scheduled programming...

 

[WAMUMOF4]

Thanks WAMumof4. Exciting times ahead for both of us. I've been meaning to ask you, how did you enjoy your Panama Canal cruise? I'm secretly jealous of all the awesome cruise destinations you have been to and are going to.

The Panama Canal was awesome it was an amazing experience to go through the actual canal and 14 days on a Disney ship DH was looking for land after the 5 sea days but I think the problem was I had us to busy so he wouldn't get bored and we didn't actually spend time doing nothing like I thought we would and really it was 5 sea days + the canal then a shore day it was just a bit to long for him and I'm the one who gets sea sick
It was also fantastic being unpacked for 14 nights

It's funny because 2 years ago we couldn't understand why everyone cruised now I'm always looking for the next one it takes us to places we want to see but don't want to spend a great deal of time in

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Oooh I hadn't noticed! Thanks so much for the inspiration and information

Sorry for hijacking your thread And now we return to our regular scheduled programming...

Not hijacking at all. I call it 'sharing the excitement'. Keep us in the loop if you end up booking a place.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

The Panama Canal was awesome it was an amazing experience to go through the actual canal and 14 days on a Disney ship DH was looking for land after the 5 sea days but I think the problem was I had us to busy so he wouldn't get bored and we didn't actually spend time doing nothing like I thought we would and really it was 5 sea days + the canal then a shore day it was just a bit to long for him and I'm the one who gets sea sick
It was also fantastic being unpacked for 14 nights

It's funny because 2 years ago we couldn't understand why everyone cruised now I'm always looking for the next one it takes us to places we want to see but don't want to spend a great deal of time in

Cruising is certainly addictive. I'm yet to hear of someone who's tried cruising and hated it. It took a lot of pleading and begging to get DH onto our first cruise about 8 years ago and we haven't looked back since.
The problem now is that despite all the wonderful cruising destinations in the world, I'm worried that I'll be comparing all ships to the Fantasy and they won't be able to live up.