phaedra
05-05-2003, 00:46
Hi all :)
Finally settled back into normality(?) and time for a quick trip report.....
2 week holiday for my wife Miriam, 3 kids, Adam(15), Jared(12) and Charlotte(8) and myself
Flights
Thomas Cook/JMC Airbus 330 from Newcastle to Sanford, paid extra for premium seating as standard was a disgraceful 28' seat pitch, premium wasn't that much better at 34' and as I'm 6'6' with osteoarthritis in both knees I need all the room I can get, checkin at Newcastle couldn't tell me which seats had better legroom but being premium should have 38' which of course they didn't, seats 1A/B and 1H/I had loads of legroom as they were bulkhead with no exit doors and were allocated to passengers under 5'6' as usual!, no chance of being given these by the flight crew, same at Sanford, got to checkin 1st and specifically asked for these seats and were moved to row 2 after being assured we would have them.
Flights were on time and standard of seating/plane was pretty good, leather seats and seatback t.v. with a choie of 6 films (all of which we'd seen!) 2 meals with drinks and 2 rounds of drinks, a free bottle of water and nibbles. Return flight was less than enjoyable as I had a 60+ lady behind me who talked/sang all the way back, several times she shouted out loud and woke quite a few people up!.
Hotels
We booked the Howard Johnson opposite Busch Gardens for the 1st 6 nights, room was clean, air-con quiet but no view, only a brick wall about 3 feet from the window which kept the sun out and made the room cooler, indoor Spa pool and Sauna which were OK and an outdoor pool which was unheated and also OK, the hotels restaurant was never open while we were there.
2nd hotel was also a Howard Johnson in Kissimmee, took about 30mins to find it, address was 2323 I192, we drove along the I192 several times looking for it and couldn't find it, after asking for help we were directed further East through Kissimmee and it was about 1/2 mile from the Turnpike, about 7 miles East of Walmart!, reception were very friendly and explained that the address was wrong as the I192 has several changes of name along its length and they were 2323 Irlo Bronson Highway[?] Room was about 30% bigger than the Tampa one but no fridge or microwave, $21 later we had both:) Air-con was quite noisy but bearable (just!) outdoor pool only which was nice and clean, housekeeping staff were very efficient and very friendly, brought us some proper mugs and a kettle so we could have cups of tea:)
Parks
Busch Gardens
1st time we've been here, picked the wrong week as local kids were on Easter break so quite busy, had to stand for 45mins to change ETickets into real passes then about 10-20mins to get into the park. Rides were good for the kids, long waits on the most popular, 95 mins for Rhino Rally but an attendant heard me telling Miriam that I couldn't wait that long without sitting down as my knees were killing me and after showing my disabled registration (bit of pink paper) he directed us to the disabled line and we were on in under 10mins:D
Disabled access and general awareness is so much better in the USA, at no time did I feel I was being awkward or causing a problem as I find I do here in the UK.
Animals were wonderful and Charlotte wants to bring the tigers back home:)
Only disappointment was the Haunted Lighthouse was scheduled for May 1st but then changed to May 31st so we didn't get to see it:(
SeaWorld
Same as always, if you like fish/dolphins or whales then this is the place to go:D
We did the usual shows and had an enjoyable time, of course it rained a couple of times when we were there and some thunderstorms and lightning rounded it off nicely:) the free beer was welcome as most days it was in the mid to upper 80's, Miriam likes the frozen alcoholic lemonade:D I enjoyed the Beef Stew, which was a large (10') round brownish wholemeal loaf with the centre cut out and filled with stew, lot's of meat and good value at $7, the 'Sausage Sa
Finally settled back into normality(?) and time for a quick trip report.....
2 week holiday for my wife Miriam, 3 kids, Adam(15), Jared(12) and Charlotte(8) and myself
Flights
Thomas Cook/JMC Airbus 330 from Newcastle to Sanford, paid extra for premium seating as standard was a disgraceful 28' seat pitch, premium wasn't that much better at 34' and as I'm 6'6' with osteoarthritis in both knees I need all the room I can get, checkin at Newcastle couldn't tell me which seats had better legroom but being premium should have 38' which of course they didn't, seats 1A/B and 1H/I had loads of legroom as they were bulkhead with no exit doors and were allocated to passengers under 5'6' as usual!, no chance of being given these by the flight crew, same at Sanford, got to checkin 1st and specifically asked for these seats and were moved to row 2 after being assured we would have them.
Flights were on time and standard of seating/plane was pretty good, leather seats and seatback t.v. with a choie of 6 films (all of which we'd seen!) 2 meals with drinks and 2 rounds of drinks, a free bottle of water and nibbles. Return flight was less than enjoyable as I had a 60+ lady behind me who talked/sang all the way back, several times she shouted out loud and woke quite a few people up!.
Hotels
We booked the Howard Johnson opposite Busch Gardens for the 1st 6 nights, room was clean, air-con quiet but no view, only a brick wall about 3 feet from the window which kept the sun out and made the room cooler, indoor Spa pool and Sauna which were OK and an outdoor pool which was unheated and also OK, the hotels restaurant was never open while we were there.
2nd hotel was also a Howard Johnson in Kissimmee, took about 30mins to find it, address was 2323 I192, we drove along the I192 several times looking for it and couldn't find it, after asking for help we were directed further East through Kissimmee and it was about 1/2 mile from the Turnpike, about 7 miles East of Walmart!, reception were very friendly and explained that the address was wrong as the I192 has several changes of name along its length and they were 2323 Irlo Bronson Highway[?] Room was about 30% bigger than the Tampa one but no fridge or microwave, $21 later we had both:) Air-con was quite noisy but bearable (just!) outdoor pool only which was nice and clean, housekeeping staff were very efficient and very friendly, brought us some proper mugs and a kettle so we could have cups of tea:)
Parks
Busch Gardens
1st time we've been here, picked the wrong week as local kids were on Easter break so quite busy, had to stand for 45mins to change ETickets into real passes then about 10-20mins to get into the park. Rides were good for the kids, long waits on the most popular, 95 mins for Rhino Rally but an attendant heard me telling Miriam that I couldn't wait that long without sitting down as my knees were killing me and after showing my disabled registration (bit of pink paper) he directed us to the disabled line and we were on in under 10mins:D
Disabled access and general awareness is so much better in the USA, at no time did I feel I was being awkward or causing a problem as I find I do here in the UK.
Animals were wonderful and Charlotte wants to bring the tigers back home:)
Only disappointment was the Haunted Lighthouse was scheduled for May 1st but then changed to May 31st so we didn't get to see it:(
SeaWorld
Same as always, if you like fish/dolphins or whales then this is the place to go:D
We did the usual shows and had an enjoyable time, of course it rained a couple of times when we were there and some thunderstorms and lightning rounded it off nicely:) the free beer was welcome as most days it was in the mid to upper 80's, Miriam likes the frozen alcoholic lemonade:D I enjoyed the Beef Stew, which was a large (10') round brownish wholemeal loaf with the centre cut out and filled with stew, lot's of meat and good value at $7, the 'Sausage Sa