Travel: USA - Florida/Orlando
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Dnls_mum:
Haha... my dh would be the opposite here. Think he wd prefer to break the journey as dont think we can take the 20+ hours flight!! :scared:
I have always considered making a stopover in NY in my previous trip and Houston in this recent trip. Problem is DH was not keen. He felt checking in and out of hotels and in and out of airports a waste of time and tiring. He just wants o get to one place and vegetate there :rotflmao: but this is an option definitely worth exploring.
Too much for our aching (aging?) bodies to handle. And besides, sore bottoms too!! :rotflmao: Dnls_mum:
Agree with u on this one. Would only do it for one sector too as can be quite a hassle with checking in and out.Seriously, even when I considered stopover, it would only have been for one sector. Waste too much time if do for both sectors unless there are different places. What we did the last time we fly direct to NY was that we arrived around 7pm, and if we were to catch the next flight out to MCO, we will reach there close to midnight. So what we did was stay one night at the airport hotel by Marriott just opposite the terminal and took the flight to MCO the next morning. But somehow it did not help with jet lag. The kids couldn't really sleep and were up by 4-5 am the next morning.
This time, we flew all the way to MCO, arriving at 7pm. Got to our hotel around 9pm, caught a quick simple dinner and went to bed. We slept soundly until 7am the next morning. No Jet Lag after that. Wonderful! Maybe we were so tired after the flights that's why we slept so well.
Thanks for sharing.
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Dnls_mum:
I thot you said earlier you were taking the Houston - Sin back on 13th. Sudden change of plans?iluvjr2:
[quote=\"Dnls_mum\"]
Did you do the direct NY or the stopover in Frankfurt? The direct NY is definitely great but still got meh? If stopover in Frankfurt, than no diff from Houston right, or is it still better?
Both Houston and NY to Orlando about 2 hours so much more bearable on a US carrier with no inflight service. Anything more, really cannot tahan for DH and I...too spoiled by SQ ...hehehe
It is definitely shorter even it is via Frankfrut. Total flying + transit time for Houston is 23.5hours plus minus. For NY route, it's only 21hours there about. This year we did sin - Houston & new York - sin so was v clear of the flying time. Moreover, NY has more connecting flights to Orlando.
Edit : I just checked with DH and he said the return flight from Houston is shorter by an hour or 2 compared to going there. Dunno why but could be headwind or the route. Strange :? . But he says it happens on some European sectors too :scratchhead:[/quote]I just wanted to verify what DH said, so I went SQ website and got the following info:
Sin- Fra- NY 24hrs 15 mins
NY -Fra-Sin 21 hours 40 mins
Sin-Moscow - Houston 25 hrs 40 mins
Houston -Moscow -Singapore 23 hours.
So in general the return flight to Singapore is approx 2 hours shorter than going there. But the flight to NY is generally approx 1.5 hours shorter than the Houston flight.
Houston to Orlando is about 2 hrs 20 mins
NY to Orlando is about 3 hours
So net flying via NY is 1 hr shorter. Pls note, UA which is SQ's star alliance partner does not have direct JFK-MCO flight. You will need to take Delta. UA has direct Houston- MCO flights. So if you do redemption like us, only can do Houston route. We check our bags through the diff carriers. Iluvjr2 need to advise if the same can be done across non star alliance flights. I am not sure. But it is something to consider too. -
Trip Review (part 6 - Discovery Cove and Seaworld)
We got a good deal for Discovery Cove using an Amex discount. Came up to USD189 per pax with 14 days unlimited entry to Seaworld and Aquatica. Original price was USD229. It seems expensive but is really reasonable with Seaworld in and it includes breakfast lunch and snack and beer too, the whole day at DC.
We did not have our rental car yet the day of our DC visit so we booked return transfer with Tiffany Town Car. Cost USD80 excluding tips ( generally 18%). We arrived at DC around 8.20 am. After check in, we headed for breakfast. It has a decent spread of a usual buffet breakfast. There are eggs, sausages, potatoes, cereals, bread and pastries etc.
After breakfast we picked up a wet suit each changed and were shown to to cabana. We had paid extra for a premium package which included a cabana and some other stuff. The location of our cabana was perfect, just by the grand reef, next to our SeaVenture check in and a few steps from our dolphin experience checkin. Throughout the day, our cabana assistant stock our fridge with drinks and filled our snack basket. We did not have to go to the kiosk to pick them up. We were totally spoiled!
We went snorkelling in the grand reef. Water here is cold because of the fishes but you get used to it after a while. There are lifeguards everywhere and they can teach you how to snorkel if you need help. It was great fun for us. DD however was not comfortable with large rays and fishes swimming around her, so she played on the beach by our cabana. We took beautiful pictures here with our olympus underwater camera. Glad we bought this camera.
After snorkelling, we went to the lazy river. Water here is much warmer. But note that there are no rings here only noodles to help you float around. Not ideal in my opinion and it is deep at some places. Non swimmers may not be comfortable. The lazy river winds through an aviary where you can get out of the river and go feed the birds. Quite nice.
Time passes fast and by the time we are done with lazy river, it was time for our allocated dolphin swim. We watched a safety video and went into the water with our trainer. The big group was broken into small groups. There were 8 in our small group, ourselves and a Brazilian family. The water here is as cold as the grand reef. We wade into water about waist deep or so and a dolphin swam up to us. We each got to feed the dolphin, pat the dolphin etc. then we got to each kiss the dolphin. Then a second dolphin came and we got to be pulled along in a swim with the dolphin. They arranged this to be done is shallow waters for DD.
Finally a third dolphin came along with a buoy with our name on it welcoming us to DC. This is part of the premium package we booked. Our kids were unaware and were truely surprised to see the dolphin carrying something for them.
After this it was time for lunch. Again a buffet lunch with decent fare including burgers, pasta, salad, hot dogs, sandwiches, dessert etc.
After lunch, we went for SeaVenture. As DD was too young to do this she waited for us and the staff there actually brought her to feed fishes. Very kind of them. We watched an instruction and safety video before we went down. We were lucky that it was only the 4 of us and we had 3 guide. We don a helmet-like contraption and went down to the water bed. It was like we were walking in space. The guides showed us various fishes and brought some of the underwater creatures like sea snail to us too. The fishes swam around us but we saw sharks through a glass panel although it does feel as if the panel was not there. This was really a wonderful once in a life time experience. No regrets paying USD59 per person extra for this. The guides even took photo for us with our olympus underwater camera. The photos turned out great.
After SeaVenture, we rested, the kids snorkel some more before we called it a day and left around 5pm. Time pasted fast here. We all agreed we had a great day.
Sea World
With our DC tickets we have unlimited entry to Seaworld and Aquatica for 14 days. We went Seaworld but did not have time for Aquatica. Wish we had
We went Seaworld on our last day in Orlando so we really took it easy. Arrived at 11am. Crowd was low and we were able to park pretty near the entrance. DS2 and DH went for Manta, the coaster that is taken like lying down and emulate the movements of the manta ray. DS1 hate to go upside down so instead he went with DD and I into the Manta Aquarium. It was beautiful. We were immediately impressed.
After that we caught the Shamu show. This is a must see. Instead of just one Shamu like when we went Seaworld in Sydney and San Diego, they have a whole family of Shamu here. We did not have time to catch all the shows since we arrived late, so we chose to forego the dolphin show since we already had great interaction with them at DC. Instead we went for the Sealion show. It was quite a funny show. Fun for kids.
Then we went for the Journey to Atlantis ride which is a roller coaster and wet ride combined. Quite unique and theming was good. DS2 and DH then went for Kraken. They thought is was like any other coasters, no big deal. The Turtle Trek show is also worth watching. It is a good 3D show. As this is the Christmas season, Seaworld has the seasonal Polar Express ride which \"takes\" you to North Pole to see the arctic sea life like polar bears, beluga whales etc.
We ended our day at Shark encounter followed by dinner at Shark Underwater Grill. The shark aquarium forms one side of the wall of the restaurant and it is very cool to be eating and seeing sharks swim next to you. It feels like we were so close to the shark. Food here is ok. As it was end of the day and everyone wants to go home, service was fast.
Our day at Seaworld was unexpectedly pleasant.
(To be continued.....) -
My DS rated Discovery Cove (DC) as no. 1 attraction for him this trip. He loves swimming amongst the rays and fishes. My DH and I agree that it was an awesome experience. No regrets paying the prices. We had actually booked DC for Sat (8 Dec) which turned out to be a cloudy day and was foggy in the morning - we called them at 8am that morning and requested to switch to the following day which they gladly acceded to our request. Fortunately the following day was a good-weather day.
The Turtle Trek 3D show is one of the best 3D shows as it is 360 degree surround. -
Miracle Child:
Agree agree!My DS rated Discovery Cove (DC) as no. 1 attraction for him this trip. He loves swimming amongst the rays and fishes. My DH and I agree that it was an awesome experience. No regrets paying the prices. We had actually booked DC for Sat (8 Dec) which turned out to be a cloudy day and was foggy in the morning - we called them at 8am that morning and requested to switch to the following day which they gladly acceded to our request. Fortunately the following day was a good-weather day.
The Turtle Trek 3D show is one of the best 3D shows as it is 360 degree surround.
Did you do the dolphin swim too? DD rated her dolphin encounter and dolphin swim as her favorite activity this trip. Dolphins truely have very positive effects on people
We did our airboat on 8 Dec. We were also worried that morning when we saw the fog. Fortunately it lifted in late morning during our tour. :rahrah: -
Dnls_mum:
We didn't do the dolphin swim; DS did it in Australia two years ago, so thought we will skip it this time. Yes, dolphins do have such positive and calming effect on people as they look so friendly, docile and gentle...DS said they seem to have a \"smile\" on their faces.
Agree agree!Miracle Child:
My DS rated Discovery Cove (DC) as no. 1 attraction for him this trip. He loves swimming amongst the rays and fishes. My DH and I agree that it was an awesome experience. No regrets paying the prices. We had actually booked DC for Sat (8 Dec) which turned out to be a cloudy day and was foggy in the morning - we called them at 8am that morning and requested to switch to the following day which they gladly acceded to our request. Fortunately the following day was a good-weather day.
The Turtle Trek 3D show is one of the best 3D shows as it is 360 degree surround.
Did you do the dolphin swim too? DD rated her dolphin encounter and dolphin swim as her favorite activity this trip. Dolphins truely have very positive effects on people
We did our airboat on 8 Dec. We were also worried that morning when we saw the fog. Fortunately it lifted in late morning during our tour. :rahrah:
Oh yah, the last few days of the trip was typically quite foggy in the morning although usually is lifted later on. There was also just a little bit of rain; usually very light and short. Unlike, the first eight days when there weather was sunny.
Met a few Singaporean families there...either on the boat to theme park, in the theme park or the hotel. -
Miracle Child:
We didn't do the dolphin swim; DS did it in Australia two years ago, so thought we will skip it this time. Yes, dolphins do have such positive and calming effect on people as they look so friendly, docile and gentle...DS said they seem to have a \"smile\" on their faces.
Agree agree!Dnls_mum:
[quote=\"Miracle Child\"]My DS rated Discovery Cove (DC) as no. 1 attraction for him this trip. He loves swimming amongst the rays and fishes. My DH and I agree that it was an awesome experience. No regrets paying the prices. We had actually booked DC for Sat (8 Dec) which turned out to be a cloudy day and was foggy in the morning - we called them at 8am that morning and requested to switch to the following day which they gladly acceded to our request. Fortunately the following day was a good-weather day.
The Turtle Trek 3D show is one of the best 3D shows as it is 360 degree surround.
Did you do the dolphin swim too? DD rated her dolphin encounter and dolphin swim as her favorite activity this trip. Dolphins truely have very positive effects on people
We did our airboat on 8 Dec. We were also worried that morning when we saw the fog. Fortunately it lifted in late morning during our tour. :rahrah:
Oh yah, the last few days of the trip was typically quite foggy in the morning although usually is lifted later on. There was also just a little bit of rain; usually very light and short. Unlike, the first eight days when there weather was sunny.
Met a few Singaporean families there...either on the boat to theme park, in the theme park or the hotel.[/quote]Yeah, weather was definitely better earlier on. Glad we did DC on 3 Dec. but we were lucky as in we only encountered rain on our last day, 12 Dec when we went seaworld. I didn't even realize it rained after the 8th. Must be very blur, or maybe because we always go back to room to rest in late afternoon. :). But I know the day we went legoland, rain was predicted in Orlando but Legoland in Winter Haven got no rain...lucky
We didn't see any Singaporean families at the Poly or Hard Rock. But we did meet some in the parks. It is amazing how small Singapore is but every time we travel we always meet fellow Singaporean! Kudos to Singapore! :imcool: -
Trip Review (part 7 - Airboat Tour and Legoland)
Airboat tour :
We took an airboat tour with Spirit of the Swamp. I picked this tour company because it was a small boat for our family only and we could have a 2 way communication with the captain through our headsets. This was great because we could ask questions and be heard throughout the trip. Most other airboat companies provide headsets to block out the loud airboat noise and only allow you to hear what the guide says, ie one way communication. The tour starts from the lake at St Cloud which is the start of the Everglades.
The morning of our trip was very foggy. We called to see if we could push the trip back but were assured that by the time of our scheduled trip at 10am, the fog will clear.
It took us 45 mins to get there from our hotel at the Disney’s Polynesian Resort. We arrived at the jetty at around 10.05am, following directions we were given. It was pretty straight forward with the GPS. Captain Blake was already there waiting for us. We got going right away.
After 20mins or so, the fog lifted and the sky was clear. The place was beautiful. We saw bald eagles at first. It took awhile but we finally saw some baby gators. The kids were very excited. We also saw woodstocks.
We were glad we did this. This was a great diversion from the usual theme parks. The kids had a great time and it made for a pleasant half day activity. We were glad we took the 90 mins tour. The 60mins would have been given as too little time by the time the fog lifted. Also, we understand from Captain Blake that the gators like the warm sun, so we only really saw them in the last 30-45 mins of the trip. If I were to do this again, I’ll do the tour at 11 am instead.
Legoland
The drive from our hotel at the Hard Rock Hotel Universal Resort ( we had moved to Hard Rock by then) was about 1 hour.
We arrived at the park around 10.15am and there were still lots of parking lots reasonable close to the park entrance. Crowd levels here was definitely much lower than at the Disney Parks. Throughout the day, we did not wait more than 5-10 mins for any of the rides which was fantastic!
The park is more suitable for kids under 10. The kiddie rides are more varied here compared to the other Disney or Universal parks. Besides the usual carousel and spook and hub rides, there is driving school, boating school, jousting etc which are pretty unique to Legoland. Our 6yo loved it there.
Our 2 older boys had less to do and were pretty bored at times, but there were a few coasters for them, and they particularly enjoyed the dinosaur coaster and flying school. They tried the boating school too and also liked it.
The mini USA and mini Star Wars land was pretty cool too. Very pretty and provided great photo op.
The pirate water skiing show was quite cute with characters dressed at Lego pirates.
We spent 6 hours in the park and did most of the stuff that we wanted to do as crowds were low. During this low season, the park is only opened on certain days. So do remember to check the park opening schedules if you visit during low season.
All in all a pleasant day for the family, though less exciting or interesting for teens.
(To be continued…) -
:thankyou: Dnls_mum
great sharing ! :goodpost: -
Trip Review (part 8 - Hard Rock Hotel)
Hard Rock Hotel @Universal Resort Orlando:
After 11 nights at Disney’s Polynesian Resort, we moved to Hard Rock Hotel. We picked this hotel because it is nearest the universal parks. We had booked a deluxe room with park tickets and reserved breakfast seating at The Three Broomsticks. We had stayed here 5 years ago on our first visit to Orlando and loved its proximity to the parks, so we were looking forward to staying there again.
At checkin, this hotel ask you how much charging limit you want for your stay (park expenses can be charged to the card like Disney) and debit your credit card immediately. This is something to note. We spent half of what they charged and i am waiting to see when i get credited back. There is definitely unnecessary exchange losses. Our previous hotel, Disney’s Polynesian resort only held our CC details and and no charge was made to our card before final check out.
After check in, we were directed to the attraction counter to get our park tickets which came with our travel package. At the counter, I needed to swipe my credit card. Now, I had made this booking 9mths ahead and paid a $200 deposit with one CC. Subsequently, I went to Eastern Europe for a holiday and my CC was compromised and I had to cancel it. So when I made final payment for my Hard Rock Universal package I used my new CC and I informed the person on the phone of the cancellation of my old card. I was told that it was ok as they will use my latest credit card details to verify my info and issue tickets on my arrival. But of course that was not the case. The attraction counter at the hotel was not able to issue me my park tickets and I had to go to Citywalk or one of the parks’ guest relations to sort this out. We had planned of doing early entry to Wizarding World of Harry Potter the next day and did not want to risk further problems the next morning, so we had no choice but to walk to Universal Studios Park to sort it out before they close for the day. Then we were told that we need to go to another kiosk within the hotel to get our hotel guests Express Passes. I know the hotel and park have different owners unlike Disney, but partners can also work out seamless service. Having to go to 3 different counters within the hotel to get room, park tickets and express passes is totally ridiculous! This is new compared to our last stay here 5 years ago.
The next morning, we happily set off early to get to IOA before 8am. Then we realized that the usual exit by the pool from the hotel to the park is closed and opened at 8am only! The sign says to use a different "Woodstock" exit. The ladies at checkin counter and attraction counter obviously omitted to tell us we had to use a different exit when they told us about early entry! Luckily, we saw some people heading a certain way and decided to follow them, assuming correctly that they were headed for the parks too. This entrance add an additional 5mins walk to the parks.
Housekeeping here was also tardy. On our first day, we came back at 4pm for our nap to a room that has not been made. Now, the room itself. We had paid extra for a deluxe room which came with a sofa bed and suppose to be much bigger than a std room. The room is pretty big and comfortable for 5. There is a sink outside the bathroom which made it easy for 5 of us to get ready in the morning. While the room is pretty spacious, the bathroom is extremely small, that you need to stand aside to open the door in the bathroom. It is half the size of our bathroom at Disney. We stayed standard room previously, but don’t recall the bathroom being so small. Maybe Miracle Child can advise her experience.
Hard Rock charges $17 plus tax per night for guest parking compared to free Parking at Disney. That is ok, if again things go smoothly, which is what I expect if I need to pay for something. If you return late at night, the car park is very full especially on weekends and we need to make a few rounds and wait for someone to leave to get a lot. Our room card is suppose to be use as our car park entry card, but is erratic and don’t work most of the time. The hotel can’t do anything about it and even replacing our cards don’t help. They told us to call for help each time it doesn’t work. Again no such problem at Disney. We had no problem getting in and out with our room card keys.
The advantage of staying at an onsite hotel at universal is the express pass and early entry to Harry Potter. During our visit, most rides were only 5-10 mins wait without express pass. But the early entry to WWoHP was really good. We avoided the crowds. Thus the express pass privilege is probably more essential during more crowded periods.
The room at Hard Rock is cheaper and nicer (except the bathroom) than our room at the Disney’s Polynesian Resort even though the Poly is the second most expensive resort in Disney (because Poly is quite old), but frankly service here is no where near Disney. This stay was a disappointment compared to our previous stay 5 yrs ago. Don’t know if we are just unlucky this time or the hotel’s service has really deteriorated.
(To be continued…)
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