UK tourists are an important part of the Orlando economy and most book their Orlando vacation packages through a travel agent or via the internet. It doesn't matter where you booked or what your package includes, flight only; flight and car hire; flight accommodation and car hire; or flight and accommodation only, you know you are in for a transatlantic flight. If it is the first time you have visited the area I would like to give you some idea what to expect when you arrive at the airport and how best to get from the airport to your accommodation.
If you are on a direct flight with either British Airways or Virgin Atlantic you will arrive at Orlando International Airport. When you get off the plane you will go through immigration where they will check your passport, landing forms or visas (if you have one). You will then collect your luggage and pass through customs handing in the form you will have filled in prior to landing. Once through customs you will give your suitcases up again and board a shuttle to the main terminal building where you will re-collect your suitcases and collect your hire car or access shuttle buses or taxis for transfer to your hotel.
From Orlando International airport most of the "Resort Area" hotels and holiday homes are west of the airport so the quickest route is to take the North exit to the 528. This is a toll road so you will need to have some small denomination dollar bills or coins handy. You will pass through 2 tolls before reaching Interstate 4, I 4. If you are staying in any of the Disney resorts, Sea World or in the Kissimmee area you will exit 528 heading West (signposted Tampa) or if you are staying near Universal you will exit East (signed Orlando). The road signs are very easy to read but obviously you will need to pay careful attention to them.
Many Orlando vacation packages use charter flights which land at Orlando Sanford International Airport which is north of Orlando. This is a smaller airport and some people prefer it to Orlando International although your journey to where you are staying will be a slightly longer journey. Again when you get off the plane you will go through immigration and customs and then collect your transport to your destination. Probably the shortest and cheapest route to the Resort Areas is via Interstate 4 West. However, you may not find it the quickest or most stress free route as you will be contending with a lot of heavy traffic through the downtown areas of Orlando much like the motorways at home during rush hour. Having just got off a long haul flight and if you haven't driven an automatic car and in the USA before you might prefer to take either State Road 417 or State Road 429. Both of these are toll roads so you will need some lower denomination dollar bills and or some coins but these roads are generally less congested than Interstate 4.
Whichever airport you are traveling from it would be a good idea to have a map and written directions of how to get from the airport to your accommodation. This will save you having to stop and ask for directions and save you a lot of stress. If you do need to ask for directions you will find most people are willing to help and are very friendly.
Obviously if your Orlando vacation package does not include collecting a car at the airport you will find there are hotel shuttle buses, transport laid on by your tour company or taxis to take you to your destination.
I hope this has helped to give you some idea of how to get from the airport to either you holiday home or hotel. If you would like some more information on Orlando vacation packages please feel free to contact me.
Showing posts with label orlando florida. Show all posts
Showing posts with label orlando florida. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Our Orlando Florida vacations - what memories we have
Orlando Florida vacations have been focused on the magic of Disney World since the theme park started up in the 1970s. They still are even today, despite competition from Universal, Sea World and other attractions. But if you've ever experienced a Florida vacation, you know that the magic extends far beyond the Disney empire and lives on for a long time afterward for many reasons.
Out of the many Orlando Florida vacations I enjoyed before we eventually moved here ten years ago from the UK, one of my fondest memories was from December 1990. That was the first time we ventured into renting a vacation home instead of hotels or motels for our holiday and it made a tremendous impression on us - a favorable impression, that is! At that time the short term rental industry was a lot less developed than in is now and I had no idea how much more I'd get involved in the business within a short space of time. But in 1990 there was no Internet, no online virtual tours, no instantaneous booking based on vast amounts of data. It was something of an adventure when you lived 3000 miles away in the UK to take a chance on that sort of unknown, but it worked out just fine.
At the time, my children were in their early teens and my parents were still active and mobile. During the planning stage, my children were excited at the prospect of another US trip because they hadn't been there since a California holiday three years before. They were in love with the USA fly/drive lifestyle, either in Florida or California, where we'd hire a car and just book hotels or motels as we chose from day to day. Breakfasts in McDonalds, hot fudge sundaes in Howard Johnsons and dinner in Dennys, Big Bobs or even KFC was a teenage wonderland for them. Who cared about healthy eating in those days? Added on to that were theme park visits, hotel or motel swimming pools and lots of sunshine, which made that life ideal as far as they were concerned.
My parents on the other hand were a different story. Although we had tried to entice them to visit the USA with us before, they had always refused. Eventually we began to understand that my Dad was the problem, because he had all sorts of worries about the USA gun culture and the likelihood of getting caught up in robberies or violence. This time, though, my Mum came to the rescue: we went for dinner with my parents, asked them if they wanted to join in with our vacation, and she said "yes" before my Dad could say anything. They were committed.
After that it was all down to planning. We knew that we would be more relaxed in a vacation rental home rather than separate hotel rooms. We decided that we wanted to divide our time between Orlando and the Gulf Coast, so in that pre-Internet era we scoured the classified ads in the Sunday Times and eventually booked: first of all a house in Orlando for one week and then a condo in Treasure Island, on the Gulf Coast between Clearwater and St Petersburg, for the second week.
I can't now imagine how it could have gone better. The four bedroom two bathroom house was in Indian Wells, a community in Kissimmee and about ten minutes from Disney. Of course it took us longer than that to get anywhere because of our ability to get lost regularly, due to confusion about road signs and conventions. The house itself was great - even though it didn't have a swimming pool (unlike now when a pool and spa are more or less essential). We were out at the theme parks for most of the time and virtually used the house for sleeping only. It was great to have separate bedrooms for all, unlike the motel experience when a family of four crams into one room. The lounge was perfect for relaxing in during the short time between leaving Disney or Sea World and retiring to bed completely exhausted. The availability of a kitchen meant that we didn't need to trek off to a restaurant every time we wanted a snack or a drink.
The Treasure Island condo in the second week was equally as good. We were on the fourteenth floor overlooking the Gulf of Mexico and right on the beach. We all enjoyed both the sea and the community pool. The condo was spacious and we could spread out even more than in the Indian Wells house and after using up all our energy at the theme parks, a lazy week was very welcome! We spent Christmas Day in and around the condo after we had figured out how to make sure we could enjoy a Christmas dinner. We found out shortly before Christmas Day that restaurants were closing then, so we had a last minute hustle to find food that we could cook using the limited pots and pans that the condo boasted. Other than setting off the smoke alarms while cooking the dinner and having a quick panic about what was going on, we had a lovely time and even got to spend some time on the beach that day.
Looking back, it was all a bit of an adventure but one that all six of us remembered with such fond memories forever. My parents' instant fascination with Florida was balanced by the ability of their grandchildren to teach them all they knew from four or five previous visits. And one of the things that made it such a great success was the accommodation - hotel rooms would just not have been the same.
I often think back to that holiday when I hear many people, even nineteen years on, planning Orlando Florida vacations and preferring hotel rooms to vacation homes - the don't know what they're missing!
Out of the many Orlando Florida vacations I enjoyed before we eventually moved here ten years ago from the UK, one of my fondest memories was from December 1990. That was the first time we ventured into renting a vacation home instead of hotels or motels for our holiday and it made a tremendous impression on us - a favorable impression, that is! At that time the short term rental industry was a lot less developed than in is now and I had no idea how much more I'd get involved in the business within a short space of time. But in 1990 there was no Internet, no online virtual tours, no instantaneous booking based on vast amounts of data. It was something of an adventure when you lived 3000 miles away in the UK to take a chance on that sort of unknown, but it worked out just fine.
At the time, my children were in their early teens and my parents were still active and mobile. During the planning stage, my children were excited at the prospect of another US trip because they hadn't been there since a California holiday three years before. They were in love with the USA fly/drive lifestyle, either in Florida or California, where we'd hire a car and just book hotels or motels as we chose from day to day. Breakfasts in McDonalds, hot fudge sundaes in Howard Johnsons and dinner in Dennys, Big Bobs or even KFC was a teenage wonderland for them. Who cared about healthy eating in those days? Added on to that were theme park visits, hotel or motel swimming pools and lots of sunshine, which made that life ideal as far as they were concerned.
My parents on the other hand were a different story. Although we had tried to entice them to visit the USA with us before, they had always refused. Eventually we began to understand that my Dad was the problem, because he had all sorts of worries about the USA gun culture and the likelihood of getting caught up in robberies or violence. This time, though, my Mum came to the rescue: we went for dinner with my parents, asked them if they wanted to join in with our vacation, and she said "yes" before my Dad could say anything. They were committed.
After that it was all down to planning. We knew that we would be more relaxed in a vacation rental home rather than separate hotel rooms. We decided that we wanted to divide our time between Orlando and the Gulf Coast, so in that pre-Internet era we scoured the classified ads in the Sunday Times and eventually booked: first of all a house in Orlando for one week and then a condo in Treasure Island, on the Gulf Coast between Clearwater and St Petersburg, for the second week.
I can't now imagine how it could have gone better. The four bedroom two bathroom house was in Indian Wells, a community in Kissimmee and about ten minutes from Disney. Of course it took us longer than that to get anywhere because of our ability to get lost regularly, due to confusion about road signs and conventions. The house itself was great - even though it didn't have a swimming pool (unlike now when a pool and spa are more or less essential). We were out at the theme parks for most of the time and virtually used the house for sleeping only. It was great to have separate bedrooms for all, unlike the motel experience when a family of four crams into one room. The lounge was perfect for relaxing in during the short time between leaving Disney or Sea World and retiring to bed completely exhausted. The availability of a kitchen meant that we didn't need to trek off to a restaurant every time we wanted a snack or a drink.
The Treasure Island condo in the second week was equally as good. We were on the fourteenth floor overlooking the Gulf of Mexico and right on the beach. We all enjoyed both the sea and the community pool. The condo was spacious and we could spread out even more than in the Indian Wells house and after using up all our energy at the theme parks, a lazy week was very welcome! We spent Christmas Day in and around the condo after we had figured out how to make sure we could enjoy a Christmas dinner. We found out shortly before Christmas Day that restaurants were closing then, so we had a last minute hustle to find food that we could cook using the limited pots and pans that the condo boasted. Other than setting off the smoke alarms while cooking the dinner and having a quick panic about what was going on, we had a lovely time and even got to spend some time on the beach that day.
Looking back, it was all a bit of an adventure but one that all six of us remembered with such fond memories forever. My parents' instant fascination with Florida was balanced by the ability of their grandchildren to teach them all they knew from four or five previous visits. And one of the things that made it such a great success was the accommodation - hotel rooms would just not have been the same.
I often think back to that holiday when I hear many people, even nineteen years on, planning Orlando Florida vacations and preferring hotel rooms to vacation homes - the don't know what they're missing!
Orlando vacation rental - an insiders guide on what to look for
Until a couple of years ago, I owned and managed an Orlando vacation rental company, taking care of single family homes and condos for absentee (mainly United Kingdom and Canadian) owners. The business was in the short-term rental market, which meant that renters came to Orlando and wanted a place to stay for time periods varying from four days (our minimum rental period) to three months. One or two weeks was the normal time. We set up a successful bookings website and most of our renters were from the USA and the UK, but we covered the world: I had rental clients from Canada, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Norway, Sweden , France, Switzerland and more. It's quite an international business!
One key objective was to make sure that every vacationing family who rented a place of ours, no matter where they came from, had the very best Orlando vacation possible. Whether the renter came through our booking system or had rented the property directly from the owner, we recognized that repeat bookings were the most effective form of marketing. Not only that, happy renters equaled good feedback to homeowners and they in turn recommended my company, so the business grew rapidly. We managed expensive luxury homes and basic condos and all types of property in between, but the aim was always the same: make the home as enjoyable for the renters as possible (plus, keep the costs down and the property in good shape so that the home owner is happy!).
We had some fascinating experiences dealing with all sorts of renters: 95% were polite, courteous and a pleasure to meet. A tiny minority were unbelievable: some could not follow even the most basic of instructions such as how to turn on the television, how to keep the air conditioning set to the right level and even how to use the key lock box to get in and out of the place. Some left the place cleaner than it was when they arrived. Others treated the home they stayed in like a trash dump and left us wondering whether they lived in such squalor at their own home. More of that in other blog posts, let's just note here that you meet all sorts of people when dealing with the general public!
But as a potential renter (because I'm guessing that's why you're reading this) you need to understand that the same "some are a pleasure to meet / some are unbelievable" scenario applies to property managers and vacation homeowners: there are all sorts of companies and homeowners out there who have different views on what they need to do to make an Orlando vacation rental home a pleasure to stay in. Some of them will have standards and expectations very different from yours. The odds are that, if your Orlando vacation is a family trip, it represents a high part of your annual spending and unless you're very unusual, you want to get the best value for money. So how do you make sure that you get exactly what you want? How do you find a rental property that's matches your budget and specification?
Well, first of all, make sure you understand the difference between renting a hotel room and booking an Orlando vacation rental home. With a hotel (or motel) you probably know the company involved: Disney has it's own hotels of course, but if you go for a Marriott, a Sheraton Hotel, a Quality Inn or Travelodge, you're putting your trust in the brand name. For example, standards vary from one Sheraton to another, but you know there's an organization behind the brand so you have some reason to believe that what you're promised is what you'll get. You can have some confidence.
With an Orlando vacation rental home, though, you're in an entirely different situation. You're most likely to be using a property that belongs to an individual so the branding doesn't apply and backup and integrity are more of a concern. Ultimately you're dependent on two things and each has a high degree of variability: the homeowner's standards and the professionalism (and standards!) of the property management company. Unless you're a risk-taker and you don't care how the vacation turns out, you need to do your homework and evaluate these. You need some idea of the questions to ask and some way of evaluating the responses to make a judgment.
I'll be covering all of that in later posts, so please check back soon for more Orlando vacation rental details.
One key objective was to make sure that every vacationing family who rented a place of ours, no matter where they came from, had the very best Orlando vacation possible. Whether the renter came through our booking system or had rented the property directly from the owner, we recognized that repeat bookings were the most effective form of marketing. Not only that, happy renters equaled good feedback to homeowners and they in turn recommended my company, so the business grew rapidly. We managed expensive luxury homes and basic condos and all types of property in between, but the aim was always the same: make the home as enjoyable for the renters as possible (plus, keep the costs down and the property in good shape so that the home owner is happy!).
We had some fascinating experiences dealing with all sorts of renters: 95% were polite, courteous and a pleasure to meet. A tiny minority were unbelievable: some could not follow even the most basic of instructions such as how to turn on the television, how to keep the air conditioning set to the right level and even how to use the key lock box to get in and out of the place. Some left the place cleaner than it was when they arrived. Others treated the home they stayed in like a trash dump and left us wondering whether they lived in such squalor at their own home. More of that in other blog posts, let's just note here that you meet all sorts of people when dealing with the general public!
But as a potential renter (because I'm guessing that's why you're reading this) you need to understand that the same "some are a pleasure to meet / some are unbelievable" scenario applies to property managers and vacation homeowners: there are all sorts of companies and homeowners out there who have different views on what they need to do to make an Orlando vacation rental home a pleasure to stay in. Some of them will have standards and expectations very different from yours. The odds are that, if your Orlando vacation is a family trip, it represents a high part of your annual spending and unless you're very unusual, you want to get the best value for money. So how do you make sure that you get exactly what you want? How do you find a rental property that's matches your budget and specification?
Well, first of all, make sure you understand the difference between renting a hotel room and booking an Orlando vacation rental home. With a hotel (or motel) you probably know the company involved: Disney has it's own hotels of course, but if you go for a Marriott, a Sheraton Hotel, a Quality Inn or Travelodge, you're putting your trust in the brand name. For example, standards vary from one Sheraton to another, but you know there's an organization behind the brand so you have some reason to believe that what you're promised is what you'll get. You can have some confidence.
With an Orlando vacation rental home, though, you're in an entirely different situation. You're most likely to be using a property that belongs to an individual so the branding doesn't apply and backup and integrity are more of a concern. Ultimately you're dependent on two things and each has a high degree of variability: the homeowner's standards and the professionalism (and standards!) of the property management company. Unless you're a risk-taker and you don't care how the vacation turns out, you need to do your homework and evaluate these. You need some idea of the questions to ask and some way of evaluating the responses to make a judgment.
I'll be covering all of that in later posts, so please check back soon for more Orlando vacation rental details.
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