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

[Scotsmomma2]

Ohhh I'm going to like this one,hopefully no more snags,and do keep posting the odd food pic too.

[disneypars]

Following along. Not sure who is leading who astray though.

[mickeyspal]

Dan is a very naughty boy , leading you astray like that, and as for the bearded lady in Hooters 😂

[Goldia]

Hurrah! You're off. I hope all 4 of you have a brilliant time. I'm looking forward to the Toronto and Niagara part of the trip the most as this was one of our cancelled trips from 2020 that we will need to recreate at some point. So, I'm looking for some tips.

[levtweeney]

I’ve been watching out for this, so pleased it’s begun.

I like your writing style

Have a blast oh and stop blaming your kids cause you want to go to Hooters

[salmim]

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.

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.

This is Dan.

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

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. We were thus tied from then on to arriving in Toronto on 08 April 2022 and departing from Miami on 23 April 2022. 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.

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 on last time. That was the full extent of the plan at time of booking flights!

Over the following months, the plan was assembled and various tickets/hotels purchased until by October, it looked like this…

Day 1 The torturous journey from Cornwall to London Heathrow and a stay at the Prem Inn the night before flight.
Day 2 Flight to Toronto and settling in near to 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 to Buffalo and 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
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).

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 ≈≈≈≈≈≈ 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, averting 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 we’re told that this was no problem once the 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
on BA aircraft on a codeshare. I paid for them and all was 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 they informed that the only way round this was to issue Matthew (15 years), with a new and separate ticket, which they did whilst deleting him from our original ticket. I was informed that this had been carried out at no cost. Marvellous!

I am now at Heathrow, ensconced in Prem Inn, Bath Rd and I decided to do online check in with BA. Myself, Wife and older son Daniel checked in with no issues. I could not check in Matthew, so phoned BA… A simple matter?

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 I had to fork out a further £187, there and then.. 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 must check him in personally and with documentation in the morning.

Needless to say, I am 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. They assured me that they could resolve things and without further charge.

Not the start to the vacation that I anticipated.

I 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 have sorted things out and there is zero to pay. I will fight this battle upon my return!

DAY 2 AND TRAVEL TO TORONTO (with a snag).

We were up and early, Purple were great and BA even better. We were at bag drop by 0845 for our 1315 flight, anticipating snags. BA informed that nothing had needed to be done at all by AA. BA had no problems with spelling errors as long as it was only a couple of letters. She 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.

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

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.

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.. 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.

And so, it was check in, to our rather average room 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!

A 20 minute walk and we were in the door. Dan is a bad man who leads me astray.

Dan auditioning for a job.

The food portions were generous.

Dan being Dan.

And so to bed!

See more...

Brilliant.
Enjoy your trip.
Dan's the Man 👍 😂

[Tinkerbell]

Woke up to this... following with interest..enjoy ...I've even subscribed 😂

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by Tinkerbell

Woke up to this... following with interest..enjoy ...I've been subscribed 😂

See more...

Hold on tight for a rocky ride, with thrills, doubtless spills and hopefully some excitement before a happy conclusion!

[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

[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/lyrics for each day of my 2014 report