Beep, beep, beep … that is the sound of my alarm going off at 3am. All I know is that I am going to sleep good tonight. It did not take Nana and I too long to get ready. By the time we got downstairs just before 4am, the rest of the gang was ready to go. We specifically booked the Alt Hotel Toronto Airport because it is on the Terminal Link Train . Unfortunately because of scheduled maintenance, we had to take a shuttle bus to the airport. This is exactly what we did not want to do. We need to get to the airport super early because our Air Canada flight ($547.61 CAD / person including taxes, booked through Expedia) was leaving at 7am.
We got to Terminal 1 and headed over to the Air Canada kiosks to drop off our luggage. Now it was time to get into the extremely long security line. While we were waiting, we were entertained by people trying to put their carry-on bags in the bag tester. I loved how people were trying to ram in their suitcase only to be told, that they had to check their bag. We spent about two hours between the security and customs lines.
While we were waiting to board, they announced that the plan was switched to a smaller aircraft and that they needed approximately ten to fifteen volunteers to give up their seats. They were offering a $200 travel credit and a spot on the 10am flight to Orlando. If Karen and I were travelling by ourselves, we would have taken them up on the offer. We were slightly concerned because our group of seventeen would be just the right number of people to get bumped. But in the end, all of us got on board.
We arrived in Orlando just before 10:00am after what seemed to be to be a very quick flight. Since I was sitting in front of everyone else, I quickly headed directly to the Alamo desk to pick up our Chrysler Pacifica minivan which we rented through Costco ($157.50 USD including taxes). Unfortunately the minivan was not big enough to take all eight of us, so I took Darlene, Sam, Marie and Brodie first to Universal’s Aventura Hotel ($718.38 USD including taxes). We are all staying here for the next two nights. After dropping them off, I went back to the airport and picked up the rest of the passengers.
Universal’s Aventura is a beautiful hotel is located at Universal Orlando Resort. Some of the benefits of staying at the property include early park admission and free shuttles. It is about a twenty minute walk to Universal Citywalk. We ended up getting something called a Kid’s Suite with an adjoining two queen bedroom. So in one suite we have Becca, Kris, Marie and the kids while Nana, Karen, Joan, Sam, Darlene and myself share the other suite. The best part is the view. You can actually see all three of Universal Orlando theme parks. We ended up having lunch in the lobby coming up with a plan for the afternoon.
And how did we spend our afternoon.
Darlene and Sam headed off to Disneyland to check out Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom.
Kris, Karen, Will, Brodie and Lynden spent the afternoon poolside.
I took Becca, Marie, Joan and Nana on a shopping trip which included stops at Bealls, Ross Dress For Less and Target.
Once we got back from shopping, it was time for dinner. Some of us had Olive Garden while some were very happy with room service pizza. After having dinner in the lobby, Karen dropped by the front desk to get some more towels. While she was there, she asked how you go about getting the robots to make a delivery. You see the hotel has robots called Relay that can deliver small items to your room like towels and toothbrushes. Karen thought it would be fun for the kids to get a visit from one of the robots. Relay got loaded up with some hand sanitizer and proceeded on his delivery and we tagged along. You should have seen how excited the kids were when they opened the door and Relay was there. Heck even the adults thought the robot was cool.
It was an early night for all except for Sam and Darlene who got back just after 11pm.
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