My mom and I decided to take a trip of a lifetime by going to Australia. My Aunt and Uncle came along with us. When we first started planning our trip, we were overwhelmed with the amount of sights and activities to see and do out there. Ultimately, we decided it would be best to go with a tour company. We were not going to get to see and do all this time around but, we sure did majority of what we set out to do. When booking, it was a hard price to swallow. What did Disney offer that other tour companies didn’t or why so much money? Are we really going to get our value out of it? To be honest, we got that and more! I have been to Disney World but never on an adventure. I didn’t even know they existed. I’m not much of a theme park person so I was hesitant with anything Disney. Plus, a lot of people think kid related things when they see the word Disney. I would highly recommend Adventures By Disney to any adults.
First, let’s talk about packing for this trip. This was quite the adventure in itself.. We didn’t have any out of the norm restrictions flying from US to Australia. But traveling in between cities in Australia was more interesting. Your checked luggage should weigh no more than 40lbs, carry ons (which included your purse in the total) could weigh no more than 15lbs. Where this proved most interesting for us was we were going during Australia’s winter. So some areas were really cold (Ayers Rock was 38 degrees for our camel rides!) and some were mid 80’s. We had one family on the trip that got charged 200 dollars for being over on their checked. So they are serious about their weight limit.
This is me attempting to pack my carry on which ended up being over. Ended up just having to use hotel toiletries instead of my own.
We started our trip in Sydney. We got there a day early to adjust to the time change and be able to see things on our own. We checked into the Shangri-La Hotel which was wonderful. The rooms were amazing, breakfast every morning was delicious and the staff were super friendly and helpful.
This picture is from the top floor lounge/bar.
Since we were feeling adventurous, we decided to do the Bridge Climb. The bridge is in the picture above that I took at sunset.
They have various stages of the climb. We did the full experience that takes 3.5 hours (they do have a 1.5 hour one). You climb 1,332 stairs and 360 degree views of the harbor and city. The tour guides are very knowledgeable and give lots of history of not only the bridge and how it came to be but of Australia and the Harbor as well.
pictures of us on our climb
Our first night with Disney, we rode a gondola up to the Targonga Zoo. We were there after the zoo closed. So we had private tours of the place and a welcome dinner at their restaurant. This is where you meet your fellow adventurers and do introductions.
We also got to go into an enclosure where the kangaroos and wallabies roam around.
A neat thing Disney did on our trip was give us a special pin every night to put on your our lanyards.
So tonight’s pin was this!
I like the back that has mickey mouse to hold it