I'm back - Observations and Southwest....

[emmalgin]

It was hot.... 96, and no relief. I'm okay, but spouse hates it.

Sorry this board may be somewhat too much for me as I realised that while I enjoy Disney, I, nor the family can do it from morning to night. Thus I think I've had my fill of it for many years to come.

Will make some observations, especially for those thinking of flying SW out of Buffalo.

Arrived at 7:00 for the 8:00 am flight. Spent the night at the Homewood Suites. Very nice, very good breakfast, 2 tvs in the 2-room suite. Certainly helps when the Raptors/Pistons were on..... Included shuttle and weeks parking.

Curbside checkin and about 4 checks for ID.... Got boarding #'s over 100 (139 seats). Ended up with seats on the aisle (2 & 2). We were fine. Took off right at 8:00 and landed at 10:30.... No sooner did we get to baggage check, then the bags were off and we were at Alamo before 11:00. Not happy with Alamo, but will give them a chance to redeem themselves prior to a scathing post.

On return, Southwest is a zoo. Huge lineup for all SW flights, thus a long wait. Were there 1:30 before hand and still got numbers in the 100's. No big deal as this time, we had two seats together and the aisles behind them. Again flight arrived on time and we were off and back at the car in no time. Compare this to Toronto and there is no comparison. No customs, no taxiing on runway and much shorter walk to baggage and our 3 bags were amongst the first 30 off. To put time in perspective, we left at 10:45 am (Orlando), landed in Buffalo at 1:25 and would have been home before 4:00. Try that at Pearson.

As for offsite, we stayed at Orange Lake and I highly recommend it. Will write more later if anyone responds with questions.

Ask away.

 

[kellyla]

Welcome home!Sounds like Southwest is the way to go.Too bad i cant get my DH on a plane anymore.

 

[sammi]

Welcome home! Nice to hear about Southwest!

Would you fly with them again?

 

[emmalgin]

In a heartbeat at these prices and convenience...... Paid approx. $750 cdn for 4. Don't know last time I had such punctual service.....

 

[hockey mom]

I'm with you on flying Southwest. We had a great flight and easy time last year, and this year flying out of Toronto was insane. never again. I told my DH it will be southwest from now on. Cheaper flights, better service and alot less headaches. Welcome home.

 

[SandraC]

Hi! WELCOME HOME! I love the 90º weather too! I am old people now and make the kids put on sweaters when I'm cold.

How would you compare SW to driving? I hear SW is cheaper than AC. How far in advance did you book your flight? Thanks! Sandra

 

[emmalgin]

Was going to drive until I got the fare. I booked in Late February (I think), but the good fares were in March (Friends Fly Free). I'd keep the options open. I think if you have a minivan and are okay with the 24 hour drive, I'd go for it. I would have had to rent the van and thus price was prohibitive.

Then it comes down to how kids travel, mine are fine in a minivan, but not so sure in a smaller car.

 

[SandraC]

Thanks, we are in Mississauga. With my youngest only 2 years old, I didn't want to go to Buffalo this year. However, the next WDW trip will likely be when he is 5 and dd is 11 so SW in Buffalo might be a good option. I would like to buy a van within a year and a TV/VCR Combo and drive to WDW. I am looking forward to the driving experience. But if the price is right a SW trip might be fun too! WELCOME BACK! What did you think of the heat? What was your fav thing to do/see? S

 

[emmalgin]

I don't mind heat, spouse hates it, so it slowed us down. I also do not want to be in the park from morning to night. Also actually got slight headaches from the sun.

Daughter 9 and I thought the Spiderman ride at IOA was the best. All the rides there do Disney one better in terms of excitement, but not in the look (ie. Ripsaw Falls is great, much more excitement, yet Splash Mountain is much cuter design).

Son 6 actually liked Space Mountain and MIB.

Liked Sea World and the shows (Shamu and Dolphins).

As said I've had my fill of theme parks and running around for a while. I do too much work and try to please too many people.

Had a great time though, just would have liked to see more and spend longer at the parks.

 

[cottontail]

Hi Emmalgn:

Just got back too, we drove took only 20 hours from hamilton, going down 77/79/95 to orlando, have not been for 6 yrs and it took us 23 hurs then, hubby wonders if some of the speed limits have been increased by 5 miles per hour.

I died in the 90's, face was red in 3 minutes, not from sunburn either, lol, hubby just loved the heat, it took alot from son,daughter and I, the kids each got a bad migraine fromthe sun or heat, we ended up only doing a few hrs in the am and a few in the evening, and more resort days than we had planned.

I am terrified to fly, have never flown, but hubby keeps telling me about people fromwork flying for less than 500 canadian from buffalo but your price is even cheaper, I think acanada is about 600 each out of toronto, so that is out of the question for us.

That 2and a half hours on the southwest is very very tempting for me, but can I ask a question, if I and hubby were to fly out is there a way that I would be guaranteed to sit with him, otherwise I may take a panic attack all alone, at least if he is there beside me i wouldn't be alone with a panic attack, lol Or maybe he would rather sit away from me and pretend he didn't know me.

Sandra we drove down in our 2000 grand sport crysler van with the larger motor, hubby really noticed it just cruised along great up the mountains etc, we have four captains and a bench, the bench was great for anyone wanting to laydown, dear son was ill going down so he was there, and dear daughter got another migraine the day we left so she was there on the way down. Lots of storage space behing the bench, we moved the bench up abit behind the captain chairs. They are great we love it.

Bye,

Deb.

 

[poohbear7]

Hi Emmalgin,

Who did you book with for Southwest ? Was it a travel agency in Canada?

Thanks

Maureen

 

[emmalgin]

Right off the net..... www. southwest.com. As said they often do Friends Fly Free and the cost was $448 US roundtrip for 4 of us..... You get a printout and that is your ticket.

As for sitting together.... Arrive 1.5 hours early outbound and earlier on return. We were on about 91-95 each time and we were next to each other on the aisles.... Kids sat beside each other on the way back.

Just can't spend that much time in the parks in the heat.....

 

[poohbear7]

Emmalgin

Thank you for your reply. I think we will try
Southwest out of Buffalo in Nov.

Maureen

 

[SandraC]

I love the heat. I am like old people that way. It was definately hotter this April than last April. My family likes the heat less than I and we did a lot of swimming.

I like early mornings at the parks, rest in the afternoon and a leisurely night at the parks or another resort. We didn't COMMANDO it as much as last year which is nice. Spent more time at CSR that last year too.

I am considering SW if the price is right and my kids are older. Otherwise we will drive and make the drive a part of the adventure!

 

[markone]

Hi Everyone,

Just reading all these posts about SouthWest. I just got back Wednesday using Southwest and I too would highly recommend it. We arrived 1.5 hours early for our flight time from Orlando and got boarding passes 27-30. We sat practically wherever we wanted.

Did notice the large lines about one hour before the flight. Someone mentioned that in a post. The service on Southwest was excellent and I would NEVER fly to Orlando from Toronto, in fact if my destination was available from Buffalo I would not go to Pearson again.

It is my understanding that Buffalo is due for a big expansion. It is already so much different from what I remember as a child. It was more like a field landing strip back then. Oh my, I am dating myself.

Has anyone heard of Hamilton getting an expansion as well. Right now I don't think there is any carriers that fly into the U.S. from there. It sure would be close (12 km.).

Emmalgin how did you get a flight so reasonable. I paid $1280 Cdn for four and I thought I was doing well at the time. You sure got a great deal. With that kind of price I could start putting away money for another trip. (dreamer).... (sounds like you liked Spiderman too. )

Mark,

 

[emmalgin]

Got it thanks to this site. I also had booked at about $1,280, then saw the Friends Fly Free program that appeared on the budget board. When I called SW, they gave me the reduced fee and credited my Mastercard. I thought I was dreaming that I'd get this refund, but it is standard with SW.

Also went to see the Movie Spiderman on Friday Night, prior to reading the reviews. Great movie.

Would have liked to do the Spiderman ride again, as it is really spectacular. Did Duelling Dragons and almost lost my lunch. Just can't do rollercoasters like I used to.

 

[dsneygirl]

My fiance and I have flown SW twice now and will again in June. There is absolutely no comparison to Pearson. We live in Oakville and it is just over an hour to Buffalo. We flew SW to Las Vegas last year for $320 Cdn, pretty good.

 

[markone]

Sounds like another example of excellent service. After I booked my flight I did not frequent the area as much (wish I had). Now I know for next time.

Do you know anything about the rapid rewards program. Is that if you fly a million miles or something like that.

Dsneygirl we drove to Buffalo from Burlington, did you cross at Niagara or Buffalo. Crossed at Niagara a couple of months ago and it was a real hassle. Checkpoint search after paying toll to cross bridge then regular customs at other side of bridge. At Buffalo we drove through with just a couple of questions. A lot less congested too.

So Emmalgin I did not go on duelling dragons as the line was so long. My daughters don't like coasters yet (9, 11) so I tried Hulk on my own instead. Being pulled up the clickety clack track at high speed was really making me keep glued to my seat. Reminded me of Rock n roller coaster at MGM. I felt pretty embarassed when the 10 year old sitting beside me was screaming with delight. Guess I can't do the coasters either anymore. sigh.

I was reading about the canadian at par deal for disney club in another post. Has me thinking about a budget trip in the fall. (dreaming again)

 

[emmalgin]

Trouble at NF.... Very surprising. I cross every 3 weeks (for the last 10 years) and have been pulled over maybe twice. I'd be more worried about crowds at Erie with the trucks......

Did you do Spiderman????? That was otstanding......

Don't know frequent flyer, but I expect it would be hard for us to accumulate.

 

[cottontail]

Markone:

What is the canada at par deal thru disney club. I know about the passes buy one and get the second half price, is there another deal for something else.

Deb.