mainelyj
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2002
First of all - I have a hard time of finding other multiple trip reports
from the same person on these boards. So I am going to put all reports
in this thread. I hope it easy for people to read.
Pre-Trip Information: I was suppose to take this trip with my sister,
but her husband thought we would get into too much trouble, so he is
taking her next week. So, being from the New England - the weather has
been crappy for the past 2 months, I still wanted to get away to sunny
Florida for a while. My 12 y/a son said he would take a quick trip to
Florida with me.
We are a family of 4 - DS14 and DH 44, myself 39 and DS 12.
We are taking a big family trip the end of August, so I
wanted to save as much money for this little trip as I could. DS 14 was
ok with staying home, missed too much school in October because of
illness - however, we made it worth his while and he had quality time
with dad.
Purchased 2 RT tickets from Southwest out of Manchester, NH - they were
$115 each or $49 one way. This is a good deal. Manchester is only 90
minutes from our home in Maine.
We have annual premium passes to USF/IOA, so no need to purchase
tickets. Also, we have plenty of Disney passes left over from previous
trips, so no need to purchase these either.
I wanted to stay onsite at Universal, because we had little time to
spend in FL and wanted to take advantage of the front of the line
feature. Booked RPR for $139 for 1 night and $159 for 2 additional
weekend nights, this was the AP rate.
Obtaining a car rental for 4 days was hard. I decided on Alamo - they
were the cheapest for an intermediate car at $94 (all taxes and fees
included). Saved about $26 using an entertainment coupon. Most coupons
were for 5 or more days rental. We were arriving close to midnight, so
I wanted a rental place at MCO.
5/18/2005 - Day #1 This day was really short. I had to work all day.
Tried to get out of it, but I couldn't. It turned out to be a very busy
day at work, so the day went by fast.
My day started at 12:01am. Printed my boarding passes for Southwest -
of course got A seating. Then went to bed - and subsequently to work.
The car is all packed.
I did say the weather has been crappy. I have actually been 90% packed
for weeks. No need for shorts in this state. In fact I
think it has rained every weekend for the past month and 1/2 (this past
weekend was no exception).
Arrived at Manchester airport about 6pm. Turned out we could have
arrived at 7pm. Had our boarding passes and no luggage to check in, so
we went straight to our terminal. We were the first ones in line in the
A section. Plus the first ones at our terminal. Our plane out of
Manchester, NH departs around 8:30 pm - about 15 minutes late. But, we
arrive in MCO near on time at 11:10pm. Despite eating dinner on the way
- my DS 12 stated he loved the snacks and drinks on the plane. And, the
Southwest crew was fabulous and funny as ever. My DS also liked the seats, he thought they were comfy.
Went straight to the Alamo counter - next in line. Was offered "full
insurance coverage". I declined, but she said then just the "collision
coverage" ever so softly, I almost missed it. I said no
insurance.... She kept typing. Signed the paper work and off to our
car without any problems.
Drove to Fairfield Inn in at Marriott Village - no traffic. Got a rate
on AAA.com for $54 (all taxes, etc included-I thought this was a great
rate.) Check is was quick. We were in bed and asleep by midnight.
I have some comments about AAA.com and the Fairfield Inn. AAA.com uses
ATI travel company. They did not notify the Fairfield Inn of my
reservation information until 5 days before our arrival. I thought this
was odd - but they do have blocked rooms. I had prepaid for this about
2 months ago.
As far as this place - I found the rooms much too small and "sterile".
I felt like I was in a hospital - all white walls & tall ceilings- no
decoration at all. The room did have a fridge. Our air conditioner was
very noisy and I had to turn it off to sleep. We did have a free
continental breakfast (I did not expect this). The outside area looked
very nice and so did the pool area. You just do not want to spend any
time in your room.
from the same person on these boards. So I am going to put all reports
in this thread. I hope it easy for people to read.
Pre-Trip Information: I was suppose to take this trip with my sister,
but her husband thought we would get into too much trouble, so he is
taking her next week. So, being from the New England - the weather has
been crappy for the past 2 months, I still wanted to get away to sunny
Florida for a while. My 12 y/a son said he would take a quick trip to
Florida with me.
We are a family of 4 - DS14 and DH 44, myself 39 and DS 12.
We are taking a big family trip the end of August, so I
wanted to save as much money for this little trip as I could. DS 14 was
ok with staying home, missed too much school in October because of
illness - however, we made it worth his while and he had quality time
with dad.
Purchased 2 RT tickets from Southwest out of Manchester, NH - they were
$115 each or $49 one way. This is a good deal. Manchester is only 90
minutes from our home in Maine.
We have annual premium passes to USF/IOA, so no need to purchase
tickets. Also, we have plenty of Disney passes left over from previous
trips, so no need to purchase these either.
I wanted to stay onsite at Universal, because we had little time to
spend in FL and wanted to take advantage of the front of the line
feature. Booked RPR for $139 for 1 night and $159 for 2 additional
weekend nights, this was the AP rate.
Obtaining a car rental for 4 days was hard. I decided on Alamo - they
were the cheapest for an intermediate car at $94 (all taxes and fees
included). Saved about $26 using an entertainment coupon. Most coupons
were for 5 or more days rental. We were arriving close to midnight, so
I wanted a rental place at MCO.
5/18/2005 - Day #1 This day was really short. I had to work all day.
Tried to get out of it, but I couldn't. It turned out to be a very busy
day at work, so the day went by fast.
My day started at 12:01am. Printed my boarding passes for Southwest -
of course got A seating. Then went to bed - and subsequently to work.
The car is all packed.
I did say the weather has been crappy. I have actually been 90% packed
for weeks. No need for shorts in this state. In fact I
think it has rained every weekend for the past month and 1/2 (this past
weekend was no exception).
Arrived at Manchester airport about 6pm. Turned out we could have
arrived at 7pm. Had our boarding passes and no luggage to check in, so
we went straight to our terminal. We were the first ones in line in the
A section. Plus the first ones at our terminal. Our plane out of
Manchester, NH departs around 8:30 pm - about 15 minutes late. But, we
arrive in MCO near on time at 11:10pm. Despite eating dinner on the way
- my DS 12 stated he loved the snacks and drinks on the plane. And, the
Southwest crew was fabulous and funny as ever. My DS also liked the seats, he thought they were comfy.
Went straight to the Alamo counter - next in line. Was offered "full
insurance coverage". I declined, but she said then just the "collision
coverage" ever so softly, I almost missed it. I said no
insurance.... She kept typing. Signed the paper work and off to our
car without any problems.
Drove to Fairfield Inn in at Marriott Village - no traffic. Got a rate
on AAA.com for $54 (all taxes, etc included-I thought this was a great
rate.) Check is was quick. We were in bed and asleep by midnight.
I have some comments about AAA.com and the Fairfield Inn. AAA.com uses
ATI travel company. They did not notify the Fairfield Inn of my
reservation information until 5 days before our arrival. I thought this
was odd - but they do have blocked rooms. I had prepaid for this about
2 months ago.
As far as this place - I found the rooms much too small and "sterile".
I felt like I was in a hospital - all white walls & tall ceilings- no
decoration at all. The room did have a fridge. Our air conditioner was
very noisy and I had to turn it off to sleep. We did have a free
continental breakfast (I did not expect this). The outside area looked
very nice and so did the pool area. You just do not want to spend any
time in your room.