Those of you who have read this thread will know that I’ve finally come up with a way that might actually get me to WDW a year earlier than currently planned, and only 15 months later than originally planned.
The US travel ban in still in place and shows no sign of being lifted, which means I can’t fly direct from the UK to the US. But I can fly from the UK to Canada and, fourteen clear days later, I can fly from Canada to the US.
So that’s what I’m going to do.
This is going to be one of the biggest trips I’ve planned in nearly twenty years – 26 nights away from home. And it’s happening soon: I’m looking at leaving home in three weeks time.
The plan is this:
Travel from Harrogate to London and stay overnight at a hotel at Heathrow Airport.
Fly from London to Toronto and stay fifteen nights in a hotel there. I’ll be working during this time, continuing with my online tutorials as usual.
Fly from Toronto to Orlando and stay seven nights at WDW and then two nights at UOR.
Fly from Orlando back to London (an overnight flight).
I’ve got a lot of booking to do. If you’re interested in the details, stay tuned!
My main criteria were: nice (lol), good reviews, affordable (15 nights!), high speed internet access (essential for work), laundry (essential for such a long trip). I’ve found somewhere that ticks all of those boxes. It’s an all-suite hotel, so I get a living room and bedroom. The bedroom and living room are 550 sq ft, and there is a fridge and a microwave. The location is good. My only disappointment is that there is no pool — there is a hot-tub but, of course, it’s closed “because of COVID”. Total cost US$1,750 payable on arrival. Fully refundable up to two days before arrival.
Haha. I have thought of that. The timings work brilliantly for me. I usually teach from 4pm-8.30pm UK time. This translates to 11am-3.30pm Canada time.
This has been the single most stressful and irritating flight-booking experience of my life. Choosing the flights was easy: very happy with the timings. All direct. Very happy with the fare: $3,500 — yeah, I know it’s a lot, but it’s business class with lie-flat beds and I need that action. That’s actually a very decent price.
But trying to pay took me — what? — nearly an hour. British Airways’ systems just would not cooperate with any payment method. I tried three different cards. I think it doesn’t like Apple devices. I tried my iPad. I switched to my iMac. I changed browser. Endless errors and restarts of the whole process. And one of my flights was “last seat at this price” and I was really worried I’d lose it.
Eventually I managed to pay using PayPal. Only $14 — which is to hold the flight for 72 hours. Gives me time to change my mind.
Which I’m almost close to doing because I’m weirdly superstitious about things like this. If I’m making a questionable, expensive purchase and something goes wrong with the online process, I take it as the Universe trying to warn me not to proceed.
Much smoother process, but there was only one direct flight and it leaves at around 10am. That makes me think I want to stay at the airport overnight. Do I change my main hotel booking? Hmm. Maybe not. I would prefer to leave for the airport in the evening and so it will be convenient to have the room during the day.
what an adventure! And so soon! Woohoo!
