I need itinerary help - pretty please

[PrincessInOz]

Skier_Pete lives up that way (Buffalo). Maybe you could ask him for some info on how to get around and what he would recommend from a sightseeing/dining perspective.

 

[queenie82]

- what is it with your love affair with United Queenie. They should be paying you a commission .

Ipads are very expensive, we have one that we enjoy in our home and will probably take it along on our trip, as well as our laptop but our family would probably want 4 ipads . We aren't good are sharing

ipads are expensive...
ummm......
ok how about we total up how much MORE you have paid per seat to fly WITH in seat entertainment $$ you'll never see again...in any format...

As for my love affair...
I was a Silver member of Milage Plus (without paying for it) for the last trip which gave priority check in, priority boarding, free domestic upgrades when available (including to Business class on a 777 )

Oh...and I had a flight where they said
"Thank you for Flying the Friendly skies. We realise you have a range of airlines in financial difficulty to choose from"

 

[Andona]

Thanks for the Hilton in Boston recommendation. Off to have a look at that. Can you give me any further info on why you liked it so much?

I'm probably a bit biased because they upgraded us to a suite It was a nice room - very comfortable beds, plushy furniture, very, very clean, nice toiletries etc. The main attraction was the location, it really took us less than 5 minutes to walk to Fanueil Hall and Quincy Market where there are heaps of lovely shops and restaurants. I still dream about the Boston clam chowder in a bread bowl at Quincy Market. Yummm

From there you can pick up the Freedom Trail and see all the main Historic sights in the centre of town - one of the things I love about Boston is how compact it is, We did buy tickets for the Old Town Trolley which we probably didn't really need but they came with harbour cruise tickets. That was fun.

We were there on Columbus day weekend and there were lots of people in the Quincy Market area celebrating the weekend - I imagine it would be a blast on NYE.

Andona

 

[queenie82]

Just with the Disney part...and this applies to ANYONE...

Don't forget "Art of Animation" is opening in May. [This is a value resort...]
They will have lots more suites and a far more traditional Disney animation theming.

So maybe another option to pop.

I don't know layouts and so for MIL's sanity and space 2 rooms may be better still. But just something worth considering.

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...-walt-disney-world/?CMP=SOC-WDWFY12Q2FBDM0171

 

[Travel Mum]

Just with the Disney part...and this applies to ANYONE...

Don't forget "Art of Animation" is opening in May. [This is a value resort...]
They will have lots more suites and a far more traditional Disney animation theming.

So maybe another option to pop.

I don't know layouts and so for MIL's sanity and space 2 rooms may be better still. But just something worth considering.

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...-walt-disney-world/?CMP=SOC-WDWFY12Q2FBDM0171

Yes, I am very interested in reading the reviews of this once it opens

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Just with the Disney part...and this applies to ANYONE...

Don't forget "Art of Animation" is opening in May. [This is a value resort...]
They will have lots more suites and a far more traditional Disney animation theming.

So maybe another option to pop.

I don't know layouts and so for MIL's sanity and space 2 rooms may be better still. But just something worth considering.

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...-walt-disney-world/?CMP=SOC-WDWFY12Q2FBDM0171

I did think about AoA but I wondered about the bus system. Having a bus system that gets good reviews is very important to me as my husband hates waiting too much so I try to research to avoid any resorts that have a reputation for slower and less reliable buses. Art of Animation is a bit of an unknown in that regard.

 

[cola]

AoA being near Hollywood Studios means it isn't too far from anywhere, other than Animal Kingdom. I would imagine the bus service would be OK to good because even if it is just one bus going around in a loop, the loops aren't that big.

 

[battymum]

I wonder if AofA will share buses with Pop. It is quite close and originally planned as part of Pop.

The other thing is the configuration of the suites at AofA - they will have a Queen and 3 pullouts - i think single size - this may not be suitable for MIL -

Stick with Pop - we love it !!!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Gosh I hope they don't share buses with POP, that would drive me crazy.

Don't worry Battymum, we love Pop too although I would've like to have a split stay with a deluxe .

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Okay taking on board everyone's awesome stupendous advice this is how it is looking now:-

9 Dec - fly out of either Sydney or Melb to Orlando - stay 11 nights

20 Dec - fly to NYC, stay 9 nights

29 Dec - train to Boston, stay 4 nights

2 Jan - fly to Quebec City, stay 5 nights

7 Jan - fly to Toronto, stay 1 night

8 Jan - bus or train to Niagara Falls, stay 1 night

9 Jan - airport transfer to Buffalo, fly to Washington DC, stay for 4 nights

13 Jan - fly home

Okay some final questions. How many days do we really need in Boston? The train ride would get us there after lunch on the travel day so we would get half a day in then. Do you think we only really need 2 full days after that? We could perhaps fly out on 1 Jan to Quebec City, late morning, early arvo.

Just thinking we could get home a day earlier if we don't need to be in Boston for 4 nights. Alternately, we could stay in NYC for an extra day. Make it 10 nights, not 9.

What are you thoughts. I would really welcome info from people who have been to Boston.

What are our must do's? Remembering it will be pretty darn cold there so not sure how much that will affect our sightseeing.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I had 3 full days in Boston - one day Freedom Trail and looking around, one day to Harvard to look around and one more day just wandering around Boston and going on the Duck Tour. It really does depend on what you want to do and whether you want to go to any museums etc.

I also went in summer; so we spent a lot of time in the Boston Commons on the day we did the Freedom Trail and the day we wandered around Boston. Plus we walked around Beacon Hill just admiring the architecture. We also spent a bit of time in the North End. And walked down Boylston admiring the shops (and the Prudential centre). As it was summer, we really enjoyed being outdoors and walking.

I'm not sure about wintertime.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

I had 3 full days in Boston - one day Freedom Trail and looking around, one day to Harvard to look around and one more day just wandering around Boston and going on the Duck Tour. It really does depend on what you want to do and whether you want to go to any museums etc.

I also went in summer; so we spent a lot of time in the Boston Commons on the day we did the Freedom Trail and the day we wandered around Boston. Plus we walked around Beacon Hill just admiring the architecture. We also spent a bit of time in the North End. And walked down Boylston admiring the shops (and the Prudential centre). As it was summer, we really enjoyed being outdoors and walking.

I'm not sure about wintertime.

We definitely wanted to have a wander on the Freedom trail although I'm not sure we would spend a whole day on it. Was hoping to spend a few hours at Harvard but you have mentioned you spent a whole day. Could we check the basics out in a few hours?

Definitely was thinking about a Duck tour on the morning of the first full day. Check out Fanueil Hall market (DH will love it) and definitely want to have a wander around Beacon Hill. Is it the North End that has all of the lovely Italian restaurants? I think that is right. We would like to eat here one evening. A wander through Boston Common.

Sounds like we could do it in 3 nights but at a push.

I would also like to go to the Cheers bar. I know that is so touristy but thought it would be fun.

 

[PrincessInOz]

We didn't spend a full day at Harvard...we got there in the morning and left mid-afternoon. Do NOT do the "free" tour run by students. See if you can get in with a more organised mob. Otherwise I think there are maps for you to do your own walking.

North End has the Italian restaurants. Make sure you check out the Canoli and more in Mike's Pastry, Hanover Street, for snacking or dessert.

We did both Cheer's Bars.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Oh so the free tour with the student isn't good. Bummer I had thought that would be a good way to go . Will look into something else then.

Did you enjoy the Cheers Bars. Should we see both or would one be better than the other?

 

[PrincessInOz]

Oh so the free tour with the student isn't good. Bummer I had thought that would be a good way to go . Will look into something else then.

Did you enjoy the Cheers Bars. Should we see both or would one be better than the other?

We got a student that seemed to be three sheets up the sail at 11 am in the morning....and then 5 minutes into the tour, all he did was tell us how hard it was as a student and that he needed us to tip him really really well. And for the next 10 minutes, talked about drinking and barfing. We bailed at that point.

If you get a better student than that, it might be worth it.

The Cheers Bar near Fanuiel Hall looked like the set inside; no stairs. I got my souvenirs from here.
The Cheers Bar in Beacon Hill had the stairs going down. Didn't look a thing like Cheers on the inside...lots of people inside eating and a 45 minute wait for lunch (we didn't stay. Took our pictures of the stairs from outside and left the diners to themselves).

They really aren't that far apart...a kilometer or so, maybe??

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Our plan was to fly from Quebec to Toronto, have a quick overnight stay and then head to Niagara Falls via bus the following morning via bus, stay the night, then I think it was Andona that put me onto the option of going from Niagara Falls to Buffalo which is closer rather than back to Toronto, and then flying to Washington.

Yesterday I started looking into how much the shuttle bus was going to cost us from Toronto to Niagara and I got quite a shock. I only looked at the airport shuttle company but it was looking to be in the vicinity of $600 . I'm not sure whether I did it right though because that seems like an enormous amount of money.

This then had me thinking about what the shuttle from Buffalo to Niagara would be and if we should perhaps fly from Quebec straight into Buffalo, then catch the shuttle straight to Niagara from there. This would also save 1 nights accom in Toronto which we may be able to add onto Niagara instead? The great news is the shuttle tickets - Buffalo-Niagara-back to Buffalo are only $170 all up for 5 people.

This is a great saving and it's only 30 mins from Buffalo to Niagara, rather than a few hours from Toronto to Niagara.

What do you all think? Skip Toronto altogether?

 

[PrincessInOz]

You won't know any differently which ever option you pick. Unless you havea burning desire to go to Toronto, I would take the cheaper shuttle option out of Buffalo. Where are you planning on staying in Niagara? If you are planning on staying at one of fall's view hotels, you'll find that the extra night might chew up the savings....

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

That's a good point PIO. If we arrived into Niagara Falls late in the afternoon, got to see them at night, do you think we would need the whole next day and evening to get the most out of our effort?

This is the 2nd last stop in what will already have been an over 4 week journey so I'm thinking we will be fairly tired by here. We could fly out of Buffalo the following afternoon and only spend the morning at Niagara Falls but it seems pretty rushed.

I'm not too worried about paying an extra night of accom if it is a relaxing experience and I would rather spend an extra night here than in Toronto I think since we wouldn't have much time there to see anything much and I'm not entirely sure what we would want to see there anyway?????

Decisions decisions, this is the part I struggle with.

PIO - can you help me decide

 

[PrincessInOz]

If you stay the extra night in Niagara, you'll be there 2 nights, right? You might see Niagara in the first afternoon and then see if there is anything during the day you can do like going to Niagara by the Lake. I don't think any of the other attractions will be opened. The alternative is to spend more money during the touristy things in Clifton Hill ...wax museums, Ripley's Believe it or Not etc.

It will certainly be less of a rush than one night Toronto and one night Niagara.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

My son really wants to go to Ripleys . He;s got one of their books and I mentioned there was a Ripleys at Niagara Falls and he's keen to check it out.

Hmmmm I think this is perhaps the way to go.