Possible first trip to DLP next summer?!?!

JillC LI

JillC LI

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So my hubby and I are planning a trip to Europe next summer (Paris,Bavaria, Bern Switzerland, and maybe Venice), and it will be the kids' first time abroad (ages 13 and 15). We just started discussing the possibility of a surprising the kids with a single day at DLP, and I'm so excited! The whole trip is very amorphous and uncertain right now, so I'm not letting myself go nuts researching DLP yet, but fingers crossed! If it works out, I'm sure I'll be back here asking for tips :)
 
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Bolna

Well-Known Member
How exciting! And if you need any help with Bavaria, I am happy to help with that, too. I am from Bavaria. :) Just send me a message!
 
JillC LI

JillC LI

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Bolna said:
How exciting! And if you need any help with Bavaria, I am happy to help with that, too. I am from Bavaria. :) Just send me a message!
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Thank you. Actually, my husband and I spent our honeymoon in Bavaria 18 years ago. We visited Munich, Tegernsee, Garmisch-Partinkirchen, Birchtesgaden, Innsbruck,Salzburg, and back to Munich for Oktoberfest. It was such a beautiful part of the world. My husband's father was born and spent his childhood in Hamburg, so we are eager to introduce the children to a little piece of their German heritage.
 
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Bolna

Well-Known Member
JillC LI said:
Thank you. Actually, my husband and I spent our honeymoon in Bavaria 18 years ago. We visited Munich, Tegernsee, Garmisch-Partinkirchen, Birchtesgaden, Innsbruck,Salzburg, and back to Munich for Oktoberfest. It was such a beautiful part of the world. My husband's father was born and spent his childhood in Hamburg, so we are eager to introduce the children to a little piece of their German heritage.
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Sounds like a great trip! Hamburg is a beautiful city and if you have family connections there, maybe it would be worth a stop as well?
 
JillC LI

JillC LI

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Bolna said:
Sounds like a great trip! Hamburg is a beautiful city and if you have family connections there, maybe it would be worth a stop as well?
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Yes, we actually visited Hamburg on a later trip that included Scandinavia. My father-in-law had passed away, but we had a photo of the apartment building where he grew up, and we were able to find the same building and take the same photo ~80 years later. We also visited Alsterhaus which was a department store that used to be owned by my FIL's family before Hitler took it when the family fled the country. There is no family alive there any more, I'm afraid.

For our upcoming anticipated trip to Europe, we want to take the kids to a few countries for the first time and will just have enough time to spend a day or two in Germany possibly.
 
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Bolna

Well-Known Member
JillC LI said:
Yes, we actually visited Hamburg on a later trip that included Scandinavia. My father-in-law had passed away, but we had a photo of the apartment building where he grew up, and we were able to find the same building and take the same photo ~80 years later. We also visited Alsterhaus which was a department store that used to be owned by my FIL's family before Hitler took it when the family fled the country. There is no family alive there any more, I'm afraid.

For our upcoming anticipated trip to Europe, we want to take the kids to a few countries for the first time and will just have enough time to spend a day or two in Germany possibly.
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That's great to hear that you could see the house he lived in and the family's former business. And I understand that with long distance trips you will have to make priorities! Hopefully you will get many more family trips with the kids in the future to see all the places that you have to skip this time around!
 
JillC LI

JillC LI

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It's definite! We booked the air fare! We're taking the kids to Germany, Switzerland, and France this summer, with our final full day at Disneyland Paris! We are going to keep the trip under wraps until the holidays. I'm so excited about the whole trip. :happy:
 
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Bolna

Well-Known Member
JillC LI said:
It's definite! We booked the air fare! We're taking the kids to Germany, Switzerland, and France this summer, with our final full day at Disneyland Paris! We are going to keep the trip under wraps until the holidays. I'm so excited about the whole trip. :happy:
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Gerat!! I hope the kids will show the appropriate amount of excitement when you tell them! ;)
 
JillC LI

JillC LI

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Bolna said:
Gerat!! I hope the kids will show the appropriate amount of excitement when you tell them! ;)
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I've no doubt they will. In 2012, we surprised them over the holidays with the fact that we were headed to WDW four days later, and it was one of the best parenting moments ever to experience their supreme joy and excitement and gratitude. This year the surprise trip will be over 6 months later, but I am sure they will be overjoyed. DD also has been asking to visit the Eiffel Tower, and DS wants to experience his roots in Germany, so they are going to be thrilled. I haven't been to Paris since I was 14 so it's been a "few" years, and I'm eager to return as an adult.
 
JillC LI

JillC LI

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
@Bolna, maybe you can help me with another decision we are trying to make regarding the Bavaria area. We are debating whether to visit Zugspitze in Germany or Mount Titlis in Switzerland. Have you been to both? What is your recommendation for a family?
 
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Bolna

Well-Known Member
JillC LI said:
@Bolna, maybe you can help me with another decision we are trying to make regarding the Bavaria area. We are debating whether to visit Zugspitze in Germany or Mount Titlis in Switzerland. Have you been to both? What is your recommendation for a family?
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I have not a lot of experience with Switzerland, even though every time I have been there I thought that I need to get back there for better exploration soon...

I also have never been on the Zugspitze. But I have been in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen area for hiking and it is very beautiful. I think one of the main differences is that Garmisch is kind of at the edge of the alps, so you don't have that general feeling of being in a sea of mountains. But that makes the Zugspitze even more impressive. It is also a very accessible mountain with the train taking you all the way to the top. I think there are combination tickets to go up the neighboring summit, the Alpsitze. From there you have a great view of the Zugspitze and there is one of those glass walks where you can look directly down the side of the mountain.

Partenkirchen especially still have a town center that looks like a Bavarian village, Garmisch is more of a resort town, but they are now one city, just separated by the railway tracks.

You can also visit the Olympic ski jump built for the Olympic games in 1936. It is still used today for events and during the summer you can just walk in and look up at the skis jump. The whole architecture of the place is quite impressive (as everything what the Nazi's built - it was supposed to show the single human being how humble they are).

One of my favorite things I have ever done in the Alps was the hike through the Partnach Gorge http://www.partnachklamm.eu/flyer/eng-flyer-inet.pdf We took the longer route back via a lovely little hut that was serving lunch and it was a nice half-day adventure before we had to go back. You park at the Olympic ski jump to go there.

Oh, and Schloss Linderhof, another one of the mad King Ludwig's castles is really close to Garmisch as well.

Hope this helps!
 
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Bolna

Well-Known Member
Oh, and I have a recommendation for some interesting listening material as a preparation for the trip: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04dwbwz

It is a series of radio shows about German history produced by the BBC. I have started listening to it recently and find it very well done. To me it is fascinating to hear German history explained through a foreigner's eye. And most of the time I find he is absolutely spot on when he generalizes about Germans and what is important to them. I would recommend to listen to it in the order that it aired in as the different programs (only 15 minutes each) kind of built on each other.
 
ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
We are planning our first trip to DLP for this summer too! We are doing Paris and London as well. I think when we stay at DLP we will stay at the Sequoia Lodge. I would love to stay at the DIsneyland Hotel but I don't think our budget can handle that!
 
CSUFSteve

CSUFSteve

Active Member
Mom has been spoiled by Disneyland Hotel and so that's where we always stay, but we *have* stayed at Sequoia, too. Frankly, I liked Sequoia a lot. I mean, sure, it's not the Disneyland Hotel, but I thought it was quite nice, and I liked the theme. If you end up with a room with a view of the lake, looking toward Disney Village, that'd be quite nice, too. Some people compare it to WDW's Wilderness Lodge, and sure, that's the general idea, but to me, they're just too different to really compare.

If I were going to stay anywhere not-the-Disneyland-Hotel, I'd stay at Sequoia :)
 

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