Toronto- Niagara, Orlando, Crystal River, Tampa, Venice, Naples, Miami, single thread. April 2022.

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by JoJo88

Great start, looking forward to more

Love that Dan seemed more interested in his pint than the Hooters Girl Or was it in act

P.S. I had song titles for each day of my 2014 report

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He actually and really was more interested in his Stella Tortoise ($8.50 Ca ! ), than the Hooters Girl, sad to say.

As you can see from this post, Jet lag is playing tricks on me and I am up from 0400 local. The others are snoring like Warthogs… not that I have ever heard a Warthog snore, but I guess that it sounds similar.

[JoJo88]

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

He actually and really was more interested in his Stella Tortoise ($8.50 Ca ! ), than the Hooters Girl, sad to say.

As you can see from this post, Jet lag is playing tricks on me and I am up from 0400 local. The others are snoring like Warthogs… not that I have ever heard a Warthog snore, but I guess that it sounds similar.

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Are you giving in, or attempting some more shut eye, warthog snores allowing?

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by JoJo88

Are you giving in, or attempting some more shut eye, warthog snores allowing?

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I have given in, but harbour the faint hope that I will once again feel sleepy.

[ClaireNJ]

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

Well finally and after 3 Covid cancellations, I can report on my vacation to North America. It has begun!

Firstly, this is my third attempt at a 'trip report' and It is prepared with the aim of assisting others in any decisions they make, rather than simply being a photo album of selfies and eats. Any comments, positive, negative or of indifference are much appreciated and will guide me in any subsequent USA trip reports! Any questions will be replied to.
A single thread with index approach (below) was adopted in order to free up space on this section of the forum and also because I much prefer it that way.. I warn you that I very rarely picture food.
I do like to try and find a song title, appropriate to each daily update, because I am a little odd like that (and nobody else seems to).
The trip report (and pre trip report) will later be printed off and placed in my keepsake box file, specific to this vacation.

We are a family of Husband, Wife and boys of 18 and 15 at travel. We love vacations, particularly multi centre, intensive vacations, either in the US or Europe. We are also theme parked out after 10 USA visits.

This is Mandie and I.. with typical, as opposed to much photographed Cornish weather behind us.. probably in August.

This is Dan.

And this is Matt, looking like only a nearly 16 year old can. Surly.

THE PLANNING.
Flights in to Toronto and out of Miami were purchased separately within a few days of the cancellation of our California/Arizona/ Nevada vacation of August 2021 as a ‘pick me up’. We were thus tied from then on to arriving in Toronto on 08 April 2022 and departing from Miami on 23 April 2022, not withstanding any future Covid issues. Anything beyond that would be developed in the following months. This is the way that I always plan my multicentres, I.e buy the long hauls and then fill in the dots in between.

Unusually, there was actually good reasoning behind this flight purchase. Mandie and I have always wanted to see Niagara Falls and in addition, we feel that this is probably our last long haul vacation as a full family group, hence leaving at Miami, having all visited Orlando one last time. That was the full extent of the plan at time of booking flights. I had not even looked at Niagara in relation to Toronto, connections to Orlando etc. That would have spoilt the excitement.

Over the following months, the plan was assembled and various tickets/hotels purchased. We generally pay cash up front when we can in order to better manage expenditure and with free cancellation terms whenever possible.
By October 2021, it looked like this…

Day 1 (On trip report page 1). The torturous journey from Cornwall to London Heathrow and a stay at the Prem Inn the night before flight.
Day 2 (On trip report page 1). Flight to Toronto and settling in near to the airport, as it would be evening upon escaping the Airport.
Day 3 A train to Toronto downtown and a day sightseeing.
Day 4 Toronto again.
Day 5 A Megabus to Niagara and a good look before staying the night.
Day 6 A walk over the river, taxi or Uber to Buffalo and then a flight via JFK to Orlando plus car pick up and settling in to LBV Village Resort and Spa.
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9 Discovery Cove
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13 The Cristal River, Kayaks and Manatees
Day 14 Busch Gardens, having stayed next door and overnight.
Day 15 Caspersen Beach and then Delnor Wiggins State Park
Day 16 last day, then flight from Miami.

Much more detail is available in my Pretrip report, linked from my signature!

Without any further ado!

DAY 1 AND TRAVEL TO LHR ( with an expensive snag)… or ‘GET OUT OF MY DREAMS - GET INTO MY CAR’ (by Billy Ocean)

We were up early and after his last breakfast, it was time to take Toby the Cat to his own special vacation at the local Cats Spa. Toby is generally a laid back cat, but when he catches sight of his Cat Cage, he knows that he will either have needles stuck in him or be abandoned at the Spa for a few weeks.
Toby saw the Cat cage and a scrap ensued during which he bit Dan’s hand and peed on Mandie, Myself and the newly decorated hallway wall. I sensed that Toby was somewhat unhappy as he then yeowlled all the way to the Spa before we abandoned him shamelessly.

Toby the p≈ss≈d off Cat (in happier times).

And then it was time to drive.. and drive. Up the A30 to Exeter, then the A303 and M3 to just short of Heathrow, then M25, Bath Rd, then straight into Purple Parking after a 5.5 hour drive, achieving 69.6 MPG (and this is important in these modern, crazy times). We advised our intention to catch the courtesy bus next morning to T5 and were told that this was no problem once their Buses began moving at 0400.

To the Prem Inn it was, mealdeals involving Evening and Breakfast had been prebooked and it was just as well, since others had to sit down outside and wait.. and wait. The food was standard fare, typical Prem Inn and perfectly… nice.

And then came the first snag. I had booked four tickets with AA to fly
LHR- Toronto on 08/04/22
MIA- LHR on 23/04/22
These flights were on a BA aircraft, on a codeshare. I had paid for them and all seemed fine.
Around 3 weeks ago, when doing final checks, I realised that my son Matthew, had been spelt Mathew. Verifly would therefore not recognise him as I began inputting his details. I contacted AA and was informed that the only way round this conundrum was to issue Matthew (15 years), with a new and separate ticket, which they then did whilst deleting him from our original ticket, 4 person ticket. I was informed that this had been carried out at no cost. Marvellous!

I found myself at Heathrow, ensconced in Prem Inn, Bath Rd when I decided to do the online check in with BA. Myself, Wife and older son Daniel had no issues, but I could not check in Matthew, so phoned BA… A simple matter to resolve?

No. As he is now on a freestanding ticket, he can only be an adult! .. even though he is 15. The taxation etc on his ticket as a single adult pax is totally different and therefore I had to fork out a further £187.. that is not simply an inflated APD charge either.
To add insult to injury, I still cannot check him in online as even though he is ticketed as an adult, he is non the less an unaccompanied youth and therefore I was told that I must check him in personally and with documentation in the morning.

Needless to say, I was rather unhappy and have every intention of sorting out this matter, but not before I return.
Who is to blame?
Me?
American Airlines?
Probably not BA.

I feel that AA could have resolved this far more simply, possibly by AA telling me to contact BA direct, whilst keeping Matthew on the original ticket and then paying a minor amendment fee if necessary. AA, however assured me that they could resolve things and without further charge. They could not. Not the start to the vacation that I anticipated.

I then went to bed and slept on it.. not much. I have documentary proof of what AA did, an invoice if you like.. and it would seem clear.

AA claimed to have sorted things out and with zero to pay. I will fight this battle upon my return!

DAY 2 AND TRAVEL TO TORONTO (with a snag)… OR ‘LEAVING ON A JET PLANE’ ( by Peter, Paul and Mary).

We were up and early, Purple were great, shuttling us to T5 within 5 minutes and BA even better. We were at bag drop by 0845 for our 1315 flight, anticipating snags and delays as per various recent newspaper and media reports. BA were first contact and informed that nothing had needed to be done at all by AA, re the flight tickets. BA then informed that they had no problems with spelling errors as long as it was only a couple of letters and not a whole name. The check in lady was more than able to sort things out there and then… More ammunition for my impending fall out with AA!
We were through bag drop and security, sitting in departures at 0930, wondering how to fill out a further 4 hours.

The flight was great. Good service, descent fun for 7 and a bit hours and with by airline standards, very good food. I even photographed it!

A happy selfie of Mandie and I.

A serious selfie by Mandie.

My Chicken, mushroom sauce and mashed potatoes.

Mandie’s veggy chilli.

And Dan’s…. Bottle of white wine. I could not get an image of Matt’s meal as he was 3 seats across.

We arrived at Toronto Pearson to a scene of utter chaos. Immigration and Customs was badly organised, machines were down and it was 2.5 hours before we escaped.. and after I had been randomly selected for a Rapid Antigen test (results in 3-5 days!). Then it was a Taxi to the Hampton Inn and Suites by Hilton, a mere 500 yards away through impossible for pedestrians, roads. The Taxi was a compulsory fixed fee from the terminal $22 Canadian! Sadiq Kahn would have been proud of the Authorities.

Check in to our rather average, typical Hampton Inns room followed, and then a decision was needed about an evening meal. Mandie was not hungry, Matt said that he was tired and Dan said that he was up for Hooters! After a quick LFT test (Negative), we were off!

A 20 minute walk and we were in the Hooters door. Dan is a bad man who had led me astray. Hooters was a typical ‘near the Airport type restaurant/ dive bar in a shabby, run down area near the perimeter fence, I.e not particularly salubrious and next to a Sex Shop (3 DVD’s for $10 Canadian plus tax).

Dan auditioning for a job.

The food portions were generous and the quality.. ok.

Dan being Dan.

A return walk to the Hotel after parting with $55 Ca, a trip report to update.. and so to bed and a fight with jet lag!

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WOW the size of the meal 😳😳😳
Have a brilliant time CF, it’s been a long time coming

[JoJo88]

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

I have given in, but harbour the faint hope that I will once again feel sleepy.

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Have a great day, even if it did start earlier than you hoped

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by ClaireNJ

WOW the size of the meal 😳😳😳
Have a brilliant time CF, it’s been a long time coming

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Thankyou, Claire.. and likewise yourselves.

Looking forward to your impressions of Boston and I really do recommend those two Restaurants in my trip report. They were both well located and excellent for both quality and price.

Sail Loft.
Joes waterfront diner.

[2littleboys]

Great start… poor Toby the cat!

My brother in law lives in Saltash in Cornwall, I’ve drove from SW Scotland down there many times, it’s a killer!

Hooter photos made me laugh… Dan is like “Hooters girl?…. What hooters girl… Beer!” 🤣

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by 2littleboys

Great start… poor Toby the cat!

My brother in law lives in Saltash in Cornwall, I’ve drove from SW Scotland down there many times, it’s a killer!

Hooter photos made me laugh… Dan is like “Hooters girl?…. What hooters girl… Beer!” 🤣

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I once drove from Falmouth to Stirling in a convoy of PSU vans, non stop other than for refills in order to Police the G8 at Gleneagles. That was a real killer, and bloody dangerous.

Dan has a preference for a beer (or better still, a Cider) over any girl. He is a very amusing young man and I am trying to cajole him into doing his own, independent trip report.

[lfc_sarah]

Aw Toby! Bless.

I spy a food pictures! 😁

Not the best start with the check in/extra money, nightmare! But hopefully things get better from here on out!

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by lfc_sarah

Aw Toby! Bless.

I spy a food pictures! 😁

Not the best start with the check in/extra money, nightmare! But hopefully things get better from here on out!

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The money issue is a pain, but I feel that AA are on rather thin ice, given the content of that receipt. When I contact ‘The experts’, I expect ‘Expert’ advice and guidance. AA failed me as there was a far simpler (and free of cost) solution.

Food pictures? I only do them in the event that I can make them amusing, or that the fare is in any way noteworthy or interesting.

In flight? There have been several DIBB posts lately about food quality and in the coming weeks, many Dibbers will be facing the BA food options that we had on that day…Chicken or Veggy Chilli. The images may aid that choice. The crunchy cherry, chocolate ‘compost’ was absolutely delicious by the way. I left the Maggots (Couscous stuff).

Hooters? Unusually generous portions and in any case, Hooters is one of those bars (like Golden Coral), that many turn their nose up at. It is not sleazy, the food is acceptable and it is in truth, a fun experience that my boys have sampled many times over the years.

Orlando around 2010

Destin around 2017.

Destin 2017

Kissimmee 2019

Toronto last night.

Toby? He will get over it!