Holiday Summary Part 2

I wrote too much information and the blog coudn't handle this so I had to break it in two.

Washington DC

 

Hilton Garden Inn – 1333 N Court House Road, Arlington VA

 

Again, you will not find this hotel in the travel brochures.  We chose to stay in Arlington as it was cheaper.  We were 3 minutes walk to the Metro (train) station and 7 minutes into the centre of Washington.  They checked us when we arrived, 2 hours before the official check-in time.

 

The hotel was lovely, the rooms a little on the small side but very comfortable and clean.  There is free wireless internet in the room.

 

No breakfast but there is always free hot coffee available in the hotel lobby. 

 

Washington DC Tips

 

·         The Old Town Trolley Tour was brilliant.  Hop on hop off privileges at all the big attractions.  There are three loops, downtown, uptown and Arlington Cemetery.  It can be fairly busy and hard to get on at the main train station stop if you don’t get going early in the morning.

 

·         If you want to go to the top of the Washington Monument, get there by 9am to get a ticket for your return time.  The queue is long and you will more than likely have to come back a few hours later for your time.  The ticket is free.

 

·         Near the hotel is a group of restaurants, all brilliant; a café, Italian and Thai.

 

·         Supershuttle was terrifying and we cancelled our return trip (and got our money back).  He did 20 miles over the speed limit and almost had two accidents.  We took a taxi back to the airport which was cheaper than the shuttle cost.

 

 

 

 

Niagara Falls

 

Four Points by Sheraton Niagara Falls - 114 Buffalo Avenue, Niagara Falls, NY

 

We chose to stay on the US side because it is cheaper.  The hotel is dreadful to look from the outside but inside was lovely.  We couldn’t check-in until 3pm so we had 3 hours to kill after we arrived. 

 

We had a room on the top floor but overlooking the car park.  The other side of the building looked towards Canada.  The room was lovely, with a floating timber floor.  The bathroom was very small and the exhaust fan never turned off and even when you shut the door, you could still hear it.

 

The hotel offered free cable internet in the room.

 

The area is very run down and a lot of places are deserted.  Just walking to the casino in the daylight was pretty scary.

 

 

Niagara Falls Tips

 

·         You can do the Maid of the Mist tour from either side, US or Canada.  We chose to do The Niagara Falls and Great Gorge Adventure Pass on the Canadian side including Maid of the Mist, Journey Behind the Falls, White Water Boardwalk (formerly Great Gorge Adventure),   Butterfly Conservatory and on off on the people mover bus.  The tour on the US side had a Cave of the Winds but we really wanted to go behind the falls (and loved it).

 

·         Walking across the bridge between the US and Canada takes less than five minutes and can be faster than driving (because of the border crossing).

 

·         A car is handy as shuttle buses from the airport to the area are reasonably expensive.  Also there isn’t many places to eat in Niagara Falls and it is handy to be able to drive to other areas for food.

 

 

New York

 

Avalon Vincci Hotel - 16 East 32^nd Street, New York, NY

 

Hotel is very conveniently located, just around the corner from the Empire State Building.  Rooms are what you expect for New York, small but surprisingly, the bathroom was the biggest we’ve seen anywhere.  We paid A$328 a night which was expected for New York. However the bed was reported to be a queen size but it was a double bed.  It had a floating timber floor and surprisingly, a refrigerator/mini bar. There is free wireless internet in the foyer but we found by putting the laptop on the window sill in our room, we could access the internet.

 

The staff weren’t very friendly and even being in the most expensive hotel of our trip, they wouldn’t cash a travellers cheque.

 

 

New York Tips

 

·         The Supershuttle was slow and tedious, moving in and around the New York streets.  The shuttle cost us A$40 for the two us but for US$45 (a flat fee to and from the airport) you can get a taxi get there a lot faster.  It took us two hours from the airport to the hotel in the shuttle and 45 minutes in the taxi. 

 

·         The 48 hr All Loops Double Decker Tour bus is a great way to see all of New York.  Each loop takes about three hours and there are three of them so you can see why it is two days.  We bought our tickets online and had to go to the main office to exchange our voucher, which was three blocks over and nine blocks up.  However, on almost every street corner you could pick up tickets for half of what we paid.

 

·         If walking around, avoid 5^th Avenue.  If you take Madison or another street, you’ll find less people and reduce your walking time.

 

 

San Francisco

 

Grant Hotel – 753 Bush Street, San Francisco

 

Hated it.  The place was old and very smelly.  The beds were so old and the pillows, all two of them, were so thin you needed had bothered.  It was very noisy from the street, people next door and people upstairs.  It was close (2 minutes) to the cable car. Free wireless internet in the room.  We were expecting it to be cheapish but this was dreadful so we left after one night.

 

Radisson Hotel Fisherman’s Wharf – 250 Beach Street, San Francisco

 

Loved it.  We booked it on Expedia and made our way down. They checked us in immediately at 11am.  The room was smallish but very comfortable and clean.  Free wireless internet in the room.  It was a bit noisy early in the morning from the street.

 

 

San Francisco Tips

 

·         Supershuttle was dreadful.  The shuttle itself had a broken side mirror and dents all over.  The shuttle driver banged me in the arm with someone elses bag and didn’t say sorry.  He didn’t get a tip.

 

·         The taxi driver we had from hotel 1 to hotel 2 explained that the shuttle industry was deregulated a while ago and now these guys are owner drivers.  The company doesn’t have any control over the drivers or their vans.  We cancelled our shuttle back to the airport and got a taxi, again it was less than the shuttle would have cost us.

 

·         We did a Gray Line Deluxe City Tour.  2½ hours and it stopped at various locations like The Palace of Fine Arts, under the Golden Gate Bridge, beside the entrance to the Golden Gate Bridge and a guided tour of other areas.  Very interesting but cold.  Take a jumper or sit inside.

 

·         Best meal I had the entire time we were away was at the Blue Mermaid Chowder House & Bar, 471 Jefferson Street at Hyde, just a few minutes from Fisherman’s Wharf.  The crab cakes were to die for.

 

 

Honolulu

 

ResortQuest Waikiki Beach Hotel – 2570 Kalakaua Avenue, Honolulu

 

Beautiful hotel.  We booked an ocean view room and were not disappointed.  18^th floor, balcony overlooking the beach.  I just sat out there and read my book, looking at the ocean and listening to the live music coming from the bar in the hotel which started at 4pm.  The room was spotless, and beautifully decorated, with a LCD TV.  Bathroom was a bit small.  Cable internet in room for a US$9.99 a day charge.   They had an offer of stay two nights get a third night free so we ended up paying A$252 a night.  Well worth it.

 

We could not check in until 3pm.

 

There is a lagoon area right across the street, which keeps the waves out.  If you want to be in the surf you have to go further up but we liked the lagoon.  The main market place is only 6 minutes walk. 

 

 

Honolulu Tips

 

·         We booked through Viator the hotel transfers.  We made an enquiry of Viator a week before our arrival and they emailed back saying they had cancelled it for us.  We never asked them too.  All attempts to have them reinstate the booking failed.  They even telephoned us and left a message on our home answering machine, totally not caring that we were in the USA.  However, when we arrived at the airport, the company was there to pick us up.  We don’t know what happened.  The transfer was quick and easy as was the return to the airport for our flight home.

 

·         We did the Arizona Memorial/Honolulu City Tour booked by you, Kylee.  It was supposed to be a 4 hour tour.  We choose to book this one as we assumed being on a tour you’d get preference at the memorial, not so!  It was badly organised.  We were picked up at 9.15 moved to a second location to get on a bus.  We arrived at the memorial at 10.30 and our ticket for the tour wasn’t until 12.15, not enough time to do the city tour so we had to sit around.  We didn’t get out of the memorial until 1.30, already over 4 hours and the city tour was going to take another 1.5 hours.  We decided not to continue as it was our last day, and returned back to the hotel in a taxi.

 

 

 

 

OVERVIEW

 

·         If you have the time, book the trip yourself.  www.expedia.com.au gave us the best prices.  90% of our trip was booked through them, with one hotel being booked through www.zuji.com.au We booked park tickets through their direct sites and buying online saved money.  We paid US$35 a ticket for Magic Mountain and the price at the gate was US$.     We had the travel agent, Flight Centre (WE DO NOT RECOMMEND AT NORTH SYDNEY) book most of our airline tickets for us.  We later discovered that had we booked directly with the airline we would have

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  Gotten a cheaper price
  
  
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  Had been able to book our seats straight away and would have avoided having to sit apart a lot of the time
  
  
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  Not had gotten the high security checks, taking forever.

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    In hindsight we would have avoided New York.  We didn’t have a great time.  Everyone was rude, from the expensive hotel to the service in restaurants.

 

·         Discovery Cove is a must recommend for anyone going to Orlando.

 

·         I’d never recommend Supershuttle and on many occasions, the taxi was faster and cheaper (except for Anaheim). 

 

·         All hotels were what we expected for the price except Grant Hotel in San Francisco.  I would recommend all of the others if it suited their price range and expectations.

The Holiday Summary

This summary is written by Sarah in response to those who wanted to know what we thought

 

 

 

 

Anaheim

 

Best Western Park Place Inn & Mini Suites – 1544 S Harbor Blvd, Anaheim

 

Location – brilliant.  Straight across the street from the driveway to Disneyland.  A 4 minute walk maximum to the gate which makes it very easy to come back to the room during the day. 

 

The hotel is three storeys, with external access to rooms.  Our room was a little dark but it was very clean and comfortable.  The complex has a small pool and spa which isn’t very attractive but still well maintained. 

 

There is free parking for one car only.

 

We were on the ground floor and with people come and going from their cars, it could be a little noisy during our afternoon nap but at night you couldn’t hear the people upstairs or next door.

 

There is free wireless internet and free local calls up to 30 minutes.  There is a computer for internet access in the main lobby for a cost.  There is also a printer you can use but its cable did not fit our laptop.

 

The hotel does not have a restaurant but offers a complimentary breakfast at the restaurant next door.  Don’t get excited though, it was pretty bad food; cold cereals, juice, coffee, sweet pastries, cold toast and boiled eggs.  There is also fresh fruit which consists of apples and oranges.

 

The staff were always very friendly and there was no hesitation in checking us in when we arrived four hours before check-in.

 

There is guest laundry facilities on the premises.

 

Anaheim Tips

 

·         Leave the park for lunch. There are plenty of places just outside the driveway with better variety and for a lesser price.

 

·         Although Denny’s are everywhere, we found the service and food the best at Denny’s in Anaheim.

 

·         We used Supershuttle to get from the Airport to Anaheim.  Very reasonable and well run.

 

 

San Diego

 

Days Inn SeaWorld/Airport – 3350 Rosencrans Street, San Diego

 

This hotel is not in the greatest area but is close to wherever you may want to go if you have a car.

 

The rooms have external access but the building is built in a square so there is some privacy and protected from the sound of the main road.

 

Our room was very light, bright and beautifully clean.  We have read reviews of other people on Expedia and TripAdvisor who say that they had problems with their room but we didn’t. 

 

There is free wireless internet in the room.

 

The hotel offers free shuttles to the airport, SeaWorld and San Diego Zoo but they are infrequent and don’t always run so it needs to be checked out before you commit to the shuttle.  We drove to the Zoo and parked for free.

 

There is a free continental breakfast.  You get a choice of two items from cold cereals, eggs, pancakes or muffins.  However, we found that you can get two hot items and a bowl of cereal.  There is also fruit, again apples and oranges and there is coffee and juice.  It was an OK breakfast for two days.  On busy times though, get in early as the service is pretty slow.

 

The staff were not very friendly and that seems to be a consistent review on Expedia and TripAdvisor. However, we were checked-in 2 hours before the official check-in time.

 

San Diego Tips

 

·         There is a Mexican restaurant next door to the hotel, Tio Carlos Mexican Restaurant. It is nothing much to look at from the outside but inside is lovely and the food is brilliant as was the service, but bring your appetite.  The portions are huge.

 

·         Make sure you have a map before you go anywhere. Sites like San Diego Zoo are not well marked on street signs.

 

·         Visit Old Town which is only about 5-10 minutes drive from the hotel.  A great place to get Mexican wares without having to visit Tijuana (and having been there before I didn’t feel the need to go there again). We picked up a beautiful Mexican rug for US$20.  Also there are a number of Mexican restaurants to try.

 

 

Las Vegas

 

Flamingo Hotel – 3555 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas

 

Check-in was busy even though we arrived 3 hours before official check-in started, although we were able to check-in early.

 

The room was nice enough but even though we told the lady at check-in we were getting married we did not get a room with a view, other than of the car park.  If someone really wants to stay here, my tip is to ask for a view of the room AND close to the lift.  We were almost as far away from the lift as you can get and it was a four minutes walk from the lift to the room, down two large corridors.

 

The room was fairly clean but our sink drained really really slowly and it was never fixed the 6 nights we were there.

 

Internet is not free but we were happy to pay the US$11.99 a day.

 

The hotel grounds are beautiful including a very large pool, some smaller pools (one with nude bathing) and water slides for the kids.  Unfortunately the pools close at 5pm.  There are many flamingos, ducks and swans on the grounds.

 

The hotel buffet, although expensive by Vegas standards, was brilliant.  We ate there one night and decided to eat there again for our wedding reception (for all five of us).  There was a tremendous amount to choose from including prawns, crab, sushi, salads, roasts, pastas, vegetables.  There were also about 20 different yummy desserts includes crepes as you wait. 

 

There is no guest laundry at this hotel so don’t expect to do any washing.

 

Grand Canyon Tour

 

We did a Viator Grand Canyon West Rim Adventure tour run by King Airelines.  Pick up from the hotel, plane to the Grand Canyon, free lunch, Hualapai Indian Tour Guide, helicopter to the bottom of the Canyon, 20 minute boat ride on the Colorado River, helicopter back to the top, plane back to Las Vegas and return to the hotel.  The total cost, including all fuel charges was A$380 per person.

 

It was supposed to be a 7½ tour and our pick up time was scheduled for 10.30am.  We were actually picked up at 9.15am and sat around their terminal until after 10.30am.  We left the airfield around 11.15am in a small six seater plane and took a 45 minute scenic flight to the Canyon.  When we arrived we were standing around waiting until 12.20pm when our pilot gave us our helicopter time of 1pm.  We needed to board a bus to get our lunch but by the time we got on the bus and travelled the 5 or so miles to get to the lunch spot, it was already 12.45pm and we had to get back for our helicopter flight.  We were back in just enough time but they kept us waiting again until 1.20pm before we took our flight to the bottom.  The boat ride was nice except we had Japanese people with us and a Japanese driver and spent more time talking to them in Japanese than he did speaking to us in English.  By the time we returned to the top of the Canyon, we didn’t have enough time to get on the bus and eat before our plane left at 3pm.  We complained to our pilot at 2.45 when we saw him and he rustled up some food for us.  We NEVER got to see the Canyon from the rim.  We were back at our hotel by 4.10pm.   This was certainly NOT a 7½ hour tour, very badly run and, in my opinion, not worth the money.

 

My advice to anyone DON’T DO THIS TOUR.  In fact my advice to anyone is NEVER BOOK ANYTHING THROUGH VIATOR.  I’ll explain later under Honolulu. 

 

Las Vegas Tips

 

·         Vegas is so spread out that you really need a car to get around and all hotels offers free parking.  My suggestion is hire a car, stay in accommodation off the strip and save a bit of money.  There is a monorail which runs mainly at the back of strip hotels but it is about $4 a trip and not worth it. 

 

·         Even if not staying there, Circus Circus is a great place to visit with the kids (we had one child wedding guest).  The Adventuredome has rides and games for the kids of all ages and in the hotel itself, there are free circus acts every half hour which are very entertaining.  Also the midway games are fun but don’t win too many stuffed animals if you have limited suitcase space.

 

·         If you want a scary thrill, ride the Manhattan Express rollercoaster at New York New York. 

 

·         Visit the MGM Hotel and check out the lions in the hotel area, which is free (not much in Las Vegas is free).

 

·         The Rainforest Café in the MGM is also a great place to eat.  They have animatronic animals which move on a regular basis, including lightning and rain (not on you) that happens ever 20 minutes or so. 

 

·         We found taking a taxi to the airport cheaper than getting the shuttle.

 

 

Orlando

 

Comfort Suites Maingate East – 2775 Florida Plaza Blvd, Kissimmee

 

This hotel we didn’t find in any travel brochures but was the best find on the internet.  We paid A$105 a night plus there was a A$2.50 per person per night service fee which covers local calls and in-room safes, payable on check-in.

 

This place is off the main road in Kissimmee and super quiet.  The hotel is beautiful inside and out.  The room was extremely clean, the beds the most comfortable I’ve ever slept in with the softest down pillows.  I didn’t want to get up every morning.

 

We arrived at 7am not thinking they would check us in but they did immediately. 

 

The hotel offers free internet (cable) in your room.  There is a free continental breakfast every morning which was excellent; cold cereals, mini muffins, pastries, toast, fresh fruit (oranges, apples, bananas), yogurts, coffee, juices and a changing selection of hot food daily so you also got variety.  Some included French toast, scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon etc.  But the best thing about breakfast was freshly made waffles, plain or chocolate chip. You could also get it in a Mickey Mouse face. 

 

The pool is heated an open 24 hours.  We met some of the nicest people in the pool at 11pm.

 

The hotel offers free Disney shuttles but they are very limited (a couple in the morning between 8.30 and 10am and a couple more in the late afternoon between 6 and 9pm).  It wasn’t very convenient so we chose to take the car to the park every day.  US$10 to park but if you changed parks, or leave and return, you didn’t have to pay again.  We found it convenient. 

 

The only downside with the hotel is that the lifts are dreadfully slow.

 

Across the street from the hotel is Kissimmee's Old Town and is popular for its weekend car shows. The Friday Nite Cruise features 1973–1987 model cars, and the Saturday Nite Cruise highlights 1972 models and older. Hundreds of cars are on display each weekend, and admission is free.  Also there is Fun Town USA which has a variety of rides and games.

 

Things To Do

 

You have all your regular parks to do in Orlando and we did them all. Our views broken down by event are below:

 

NASA - we did the NASA Up Close & Personal Tour (minus the lunch with an astronaut).  I was looking forward to NASA but we had flown overnight from Las Vegas and lost three hours and were very tired.  It was a 1½ drive from the hotel.  The tour was great and the guide very informative. There were plenty of other things to do at NASA but I had hurt my foot and could barely walk and we were both very tired.  Our ticket did entitle us to go back another day but we just didn’t have the time.

 

Discovery Cove – This would be my favourite place on the entire trip.  The day is totally exclusive except for the dolphin photos.  We paid A$380 each which also included entry to SeaWorld and Busch Gardens.  (This was US$14 on top of the Discovery Cove cost, a saving of about US$100).  You arrive around 8am and are greeted by very friendly staff.  You get your photo taken and are provided with a photo ID (which was also the ticket for the other two parks) which details your dolphin swim time.

 

There is an orientation and then you help yourself to a large spread for breakfast.  From there you go and get your wetsuit or swim vest, your towel, your snorkel and mask (you get to keep the snorkel) and sunscreen.  You also get your locker.  As I said, all this is included. You are then free to explore until your dolphin swim.  We snorkelled around the coral reef and then went into the stingray lagoon. All the barbs are removed from the stingrays.

 

At the dolphin swim you are broken up in groups of 8 and go out with a trainer.  It is very structured which is fine.  People forget they are still unpredictable animals. You get to rub, hug, kiss, watch the dolphins and listen to the keeper.  You also get a dolphin ride too where you are out in deeper water and the dolphin pulls you back in.

 

After that we were at lunch and I’ve never seen so much food in my life.  We then went back to snorkelling and then we went into the large pool which is heated and very warm.  Leading off the pool is a flowing river.  It takes about 20 minutes before you return back to the pool.  There are floating devices you can use as you float around, under waterfalls and the like. 

 

There is also a bird aviary you can walk around.

 

As the day is totally inclusive, you can go and get food and drink any time you like, including alcohol.

 

A definite must thing to do when in Orlando.  It is located right near SeaWorld.

 

Epcot – Not the most exciting place in the world.  A few rides, very Expo like.

 

Disneyworld – Not dissimilar to Disneyland except it is missing some of the good rides of Disneyland like Indiana Jones.  The FastPass ticket is handy if a ride is busy and you want to come back at an allotted time and jump the queue.

 

The problem with Disneyworld is that it is on an island and you have to get on a monorail or boat to get there and back and just after we got back, you had to take the boat to get there.

 

Disney’s Animal Kingdom – Brilliant.  So well organised.  A lot of it is open plain so you do a safari type truck around and see the animals.  There are also various rides you can partake in.

 

Universal Studios – It was OK.  Had a few good rides and shows we liked.

 

SeaWorld – I was looking forward to SeaWorld (I had to the one in San Diego on a previous trip) and this time had booked a Dine with Shamu.  We were very disappointed that when we went to check in on arrival, the dining wasn’t until 4.15 (and this was at 8.30).  However we were offered a refund which we took.  Enjoyed the shows, and seeing all the marine animals and of course Alan enjoyed the rides.

 

Universal Islands of Adventure – full on rides and pretty extreme ones at that.

 

Disney MGM Studios – We both actually found it pretty boring.  Had a brilliant Indiana Jones Stunt Show but the others we saw were pretty lame.

 

Busch Gardens, Tampa – a mixture of rides and animals.  Interesting combination.  We really enjoyed our day and the drive to and from Tampa, about 70 minutes, was easy.

 

Orlando Tips

 

·         We discovered Olive Garden Restaurant although they are everywhere in the USA.  Inexpensive but brilliant Italian. 

 

·         We enjoyed having the car and found it very convenient.