The "Totally Wicked!" World Tour - May 12th - 20th, 2007 (Updated Post #8 Page 1)

[FreddyBeach]

I felt it a duty to put forth some sort of Trip Report since I spent so much time here reading others recollections. So. Off we go then?

The plans started for this trip in April 2006 when my wife and I decided it may be time to plan another trip South. It was April 2001 since we had been to Disney when the kids (DD 11 and DS 10) were 5 and 4.

I booked the flights through Aeroplan (Air Canada's loyalty program) and in an effort to save precious miles, I arranged that we would travel down separately (DS and I would arrive first and DD and DW would arrive after us later in the day). And since I used Aeroplan Miles, it was free right? RIGHT? Wrong. Security Fees, Upgrade Fees, Fuel Surcharge, Blah Blah Blah all added up to about $500 Canadian.

In 2001, we split our stay between ASMo and POR. We much preferred POR as it was more relaxing and easy-going than ASMo. Even so, we still figured that this time we'd stay offsite to save money and so that we could get a place that would allow us to prepare our own meals. After a lengthy search, I narrowed it down to the Windsor Hills Resort. It seemed close, and since it was reasonably new, we expected that it would still be in good repair. After choosing the resort, we narrowed it down to a couple of condos. We finally went with Magical Getaway since it was getting good reviews and we got a good price. The owner (Patti) was great to deal with and answered my questions quickly.

I jumped all around the place looking for car rental deals, and ended up using MouseSavers codes to secure a compact car through Alamo for 8 days which ended up costing $170. We went through Alamo so we could get the second driver for free, which of course we never used.

I subscribed to TGM and used that primarily to establish which parks we should attend on which days... We found that he was pretty much dead on. I'll get into more detail as the report progresses.

I was going to go into a big tall tale about how we fought through snow drifts and braved polar bears to get down to Florida (the stereotypical view of Canada), but seeing as how it SNOWED in my hometown (Fredericton, NB)while we were gone, I'll just have to let that little bit of irony go.

I hope this gets a little more interesting as we move along. So. That's the introduction. I'll add some more in a bit.

Mike in the Maritimes.

 

[TammySB]

Pretty good so far! Cant wait to read the rest. We will be going June 16-26. Time is starting to drag. I just wish that time will slow down while we are there. It always goes by way to fast! So come on with it I want to read about your trip!!

 

[averill94]

Keep it coming!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Eager to hear more!

 

[pooksma]

Oh I can't wait to read this one. We Freddy Beachers have such a unique perspective!
Yes it snowed-we were all freaked out!

More please and some pics if you have them to share!

 

[amy2girls]

good start

 

[blue_river]

I was going to go into a big tall tale about how we fought through snow drifts and braved polar bears to get down to Florida (the stereotypical view of Canada), but seeing as how it SNOWED in my hometown (Fredericton, NB)while we were gone, I'll just have to let that little bit of irony go.

I feel for you! I'm a little more south (not much more) and can't stand the cold here!!


I'm pulling up a chair and looking forward to hearing all about it

 

[FreddyBeach]

I mentioned in my sad excuse for a pre-report that I had arranged through Aeroplan to fly us down in two separate groups to save on Miles.... At the time, I thought to myself.... "What a great title for a Trip Report. 'Disney split up my Family!'". Technically, Disney didn't do it, Air Canada did, but that's beside the point (and I do have one).

THE POINT: At the beginning of February (when the snow is EXPECTED to fly) I got an e-mail from Aeroplan telling me that our itinerary had changed... My son and I were arriving an hour earlier around 11:30am , and my wife and daughter would now arrive at 12:00am

We were willing to put up with the old arrangement where the girls would arrive around 7:00pm, but midnight? I don't think so.

I called Aeroplan and tried to see if alternate arrangements could be made. I got someone on the phone who, while not explicitly rude, seemed to be trying to reduce her average call time. I barely heard her say "sorry, nothing we can do!" before the line went dead.

I didn't stew too much about this since it was what I was expecting anyway. A few weeks later I vented (just a little) here on the DIS about it and got some advice to try again... "What the heck!" I thought (or something less publish-able). I called again.

The guy on the other end of the line (I wish I got his name) could not have been more helpful. I gave him my sob story and he put me on hold to see what he could do. He switched the girls from the midnight flight to ours! So we all could leave together and get down to the sun and heat early.

And by early, I mean Early. Our flight left at 5:45am. Which means we have to be at the airport (the Fredericton INTERNATIONAL airport) at 4:45am. Which means we had to get up at 3:30am to make sure we weren't late.

You may have missed the news on CNN and Newsworld, but recently our own little Fredericton Airport became the Fredericton INTERNATIONAL airport (I think they capitalize it like that too). Now Fredericton has an airport on par with Pearson in Toronto and LaGuardia in New York.... right? Right?

Ok, so you can throw a rock from one end and hit the other (I assume. I haven't actually tried). But it's INTERNATIONAL now. A little story to illustrate its size.

Many moons ago my wife and I were on a trip to Switzerland to visit my parents (my father was on a job there due to his ability to speak german... and some engineering skills too I suppose.... ANYWAY). We were checking in at the counter and they told us to proceed to Gate 3.

"Gate 3? Where the @$#$@! is that?" we responded.

She proceed to give us detailed instructions on how to turn left and walk 15 feet.

You see, our problem was that we didn't know there was more than one gate. We thought we would be heading to gate 1. As it turns out, Gates 1 and 2 deal with freight and military traffic.

So as you can see our INTERNATIONAL airport isn't all that big.

Still with me?

We check in with no issues, we were able to find our gate with no assistance at all. The kids were excited, but subdued too (it's 5:00am remember)

The flight to Toronto was uneventful (I like that when I fly)

We made our way through Pearson International (they don't capitalize) through to Customs where we encountered our first obstacle. The US Customs official had not eaten his Wheaties that morning and seemed to be itching for a fight. He would ask us vague questions about any medications we might have or fruit we might be carrying (like the apples we were chowing down on to get rid of), and we would respond in a manner much like his (vaguely, that is). This cheesed him off. His tone rose, his face went red from bottom to top, much like a thermometer in a cup of hot water. His questioning continued to get more aggressive until at some point he seemed to realize we didn't much look like stereotypical drug mules for a Columbian cartel and his demeanor changed completely.

He became very polite, explained the reasoning behind his questions and let us through without too much more bother. Maybe his supervisor was standing behind us? I dunno.

The rest of the stay in Pearson was, again, uneventful. On our trip down we had TVs on the backs of the seats so we could choose our own entertainment. This is a fantastic idea in theory, but in practice, Air Canada needs to add a few more options and work out the kinks since many of the people on the flight weren't able to use it.

I, however, was able to watch half of "Children of Men" while scarfing down my $5 turkey sandwich. Clive Owen just called Sid a "Fascist Pig" when the whole thing shut down in preparation for landing. Would I be able to finish it on the flight home? (the movie, not the sandwich) I guess you'll have to wait and see. Such suspense.

We made our way through the Orlando International airport (see? nothing but international airports for us) to the Alamo desk. I decided to try a kiosk to see if I could speed things up a bit. Only two problems with checking in this way.

#1) It won't accept a driver's license from New Brunswick. The helper guy says "Just change the province to Ontario and it will work. I don't know why".

#2) When trying to add my extra driver for free, it tells me it's going to charge me $9.95 a day.

I didn't add the extra driver and got in line to figure out what to do... The helper guy sees me in line and asks me if he can help (That's why he's called "Helper Guy". It was on his name tag and everything). When I explain to him what transpired, he told me if I had continued, even though it said it was going to charge me, it wouldn't have.

Of course. How silly of me. Anyway. He told me they could add the extra driver in the garage and to head there. We did. And he was right. Extra Driver? Free? No problem. Now we had to choose our car. We proceeded to the Compact section to peruse our possible choices. We boiled it down to two:

My Wife: Silver Saturn Ion

Myself and the kids: Canary Yellow PT Cruiser

Which did we choose? Tune in next time boys and girls.

 

[blue_river]

My Wife: Silver Saturn Ion

Myself and the kids: Canary Yellow PT Cruiser

Which did we choose? Tune in next time boys and girls.

I'm going to go with Canary Yellow PT Cruiser

Do we get a prize if we guess correctly????

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I love your writing style, very witty. I am hoping that you went with the "fun"car. What is more fun than a bright yellow PT Cruiser on vacation. Can't wait to hear more.

 

[pooksma]

Gate 3...too true.

Im going to guess the Ion.

 

[declansdad]

Many moons ago my wife and I were on a trip to Switzerland to visit my parents (my father was on a job there due to his ability to speak german... and some engineering skills too I suppose.... ANYWAY). We were checking in at the counter and they told us to proceed to Gate 3.

"Gate 3? Where the @$#$@! is that?" we responded.

She proceed to give us detailed instructions on how to turn left and walk 15 feet.

You see, our problem was that we didn't know there was more than one gate. We thought we would be heading to gate 1. As it turns out, Gates 1 and 2 deal with freight and military traffic.

So as you can see our INTERNATIONAL airport isn't all that big.

Lol. Here's another Freddy Beach International story for you. A few years back in the pre-international days, I was flying to Newfoundland with Air Canada. I checked in at the ticket counter and the guy told me to go to gate 3. After clearing security, I went to the next desk to show my boarding pass and go out to the plane and the person at the desk was the same guy that was at the ticket counter. He even asked to see my id again.

Who says we have lax security?

 

[blue_river]

Just a little bump

 

[Renee1061]

Lol. Here's another Freddy Beach International story for you. A few years back in the pre-international days, I was flying to Newfoundland with Air Canada. I checked in at the ticket counter and the guy told me to go to gate 3. After clearing security, I went to the next desk to show my boarding pass and go out to the plane and the person at the desk was the same guy that was at the ticket counter. He even asked to see my id again.

Who says we have lax security?

Did he load your luggage and fly the plane, too? That actually sounds a lot like our local airport.

By the way, OP, I am enjoying your report and can't wait to read more!

 

[OhMari]

You have to come back and tell us the rest of your tales. Please!!!!