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Non-Stop Orlando (MCO) – International travel with a minor – VERY LONG trip report

Lanny

By Lanny,
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Lanny

Lanny

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There were some very traumatic, unanticipated problems, on our trip from Cali, Colombia to Orlando FL, USA,  but all of those problems were overcome. We had a wonderful trip and it was wonderful to have this long delayed trip happen and to see the smiles on DDs face.

 

The trip almost ended in the Cali airport (CLO) at 240 A.M. on Sunday, April 24th, before it began. When it was our turn, to our astonishment, we learned that DD could not leave Colombia with us, unless we had a copy of her Colombian Birth Certificate, showing that my wife and I are her parents. Possibly/Probably, we should have thought about that happening and had a 3 cent photocopy with us. Colombia is very strict about minor children doing international travel, and we were well aware of that, but since both of her parents were with her, we did not anticipate having a problem. The problem was that neither her U.S. Passport or her Colombian Passport have our names in them. A WONDERFUL Avianca ticket agent helped us, when it was our turn to check in (we had 2 bags to check and that was how this began) and I will write a letter to the President of Avianca, possibly later today, praising her. Also, my Stepson and his wife are living with us and my wife remembered she had put a copy of the Colombian Birth Certificate in a Photo Album which is in the living room. They took a photo of that and emailed it to us. The lady from Avianca wasn't able to Print a copy, due to technical  issues, but she gave us the 2nd Boarding Pass, for the flight from Bogota (BOG) to Orlando (MCO) and we paid about USD $3.33 in a Kiosk in the Bogota airport, for Internet access, and printed two copies of the Colombian Birth Certificate. We thank God for the help that Avianca employee gave us and for the fact that my Stepson and his wife came home and answered their cell phones at 3 .A.M. after dropping us off at the airport.

 

I had a problem, because my Resident Visa was issued in 1994 and is in an old expired U.S. Passport and I hadn't brought that along. I should have thought about that and brought it along. I was delayed in Immigration, leaving Bogota and also last night after we arrived in Bogota. I should have anticipated that and brought the expired Passport with my Colombian Visa. I had been issued a new "Cedula" (National Identity card) in February) so they had updated information in their system. 

 

Leaving Bogota, in Immigration, my wife and DD were stuck, because I was not with them, so after I was cleared, they called me to the booth they were at and after a minute or two, we were free to leave Colombia with DD.

 

Our flight from Bogota up to Orlando was about 3 hours 34 minutes and the computer had assigned us some of the best seats in the Coach cabin. There was a tailwind approximately ¾ of the trip and then a strong headwind (100+ MPH) as we got closer to Florida.

 

Totally unexpected, never anticipated, when we went through U.S. Immigration, the man did not permit my Wife to enter the USA with us. She frequently has problems with Fingerprints (Dermatitis or something) and this was the first time she had used her new Colombian Passport and her new U.S. Visa. We were stuck in the Baggage Claim, wondering where she was and what was happening with her She was there for approximately 1 ½ or 2 hours, until it was her turn to be helped. After they cleared the issue in their system, my wife was asked how long she was going to be in the USA. She told the person, “I'm going back to my country in one weekâ€. She was admitted to the USA for 6 months. We were waived through U.S. Customs without any inspection.

 

When we got to the main terminal building where the Dollar Rent a Car office is located, I let them “upsell†us to the Uninsured Motorist Insurance, which cost approximately USD $55 extra for the week. I had requested a Toyota Corolla or similar. We got similar. Had I known that, I would have requested a “Mid Size†car and we would have saved a few dollars. We picked a Silver Chevrolet Sonic (I wanted a light color car, because of the heat) It had a large trunk and we had no problems with the car or Dollar Rent a Car. When we returned the car, the man told us he would give us a ride to the terminal building in the car, so we didn't need to unload the car and walk to the terminal building with our luggage, which was nice. We were afraid to leave the Rental Papers in the car and my wife had them in her purse. We went on the River Rapids ride in Animal Kingdom, 3 times, and her purse and the papers were drenched. Fortunately, Dollar Rent a Car did not need the papers when we returned the car yesterday.

 

We rented a 2 B.R. Timeshare in “The Villas at Summer Bay Orlandoâ€. Those are the smaller 2 B.R. units that can hold up to 6 people, if 2 of them sleep on the Sofa Bed. I would rate our Unit and our Experience as 9/10. There were several issues, but we would return there in a heartbeat, if we had the money to do so. The Unit we were in was very clean and well equipped. We went to the nearby Publix supermarket the first night we were there and bought things and my wife cooked a light Breakfast, 6 of the 7 mornings we were there. That saved us money, but more importantly saved us time not needing to go to the nearby Denny's restaurant. The check in was very quick and the people who helped us very nice and courteous. The first issue was after the Check In, they had an Obnoxious woman show us how to get to our Unit. She put pressure on us to attend a Timeshare Presentation and we were under no obligation to do that, I told her that if I wanted to buy a Timeshare I would buy one on the Resale market, if someone wouldn't give their Timeshare to us. She promised me it would only be 45 minutes and that she would put USD$100 into my hand after that. I told her, several times, that we had been up since Saturday morning (this was about 5 P.M. on Sunday) and that my wife was extremely hungry. We never heard from her again. We ate in the Snack Bar, behind the area where the Check In was, after escaping from her. Two of us had Pizza, which was very good to excellent and 2 had Salads, which didn't look that great. DD said the Wifi was excellent and that was the case until Wednesday morning. We could connect to their WiFI but had no Internet access. I think their ISP changed the DNS Servers or something. I called the office and the lady said they could put me in touch with their ISP, but we were getting ready to leave and I didn't have time for that. I called again, about 30 minutes later, and she said another guest had called, and they were in another building. The only other issue was someones error: Either a previous guest or an employee had closed the In Room Safe, rather than leaving it open, so we couldn't use that. I didn't call them about that, so they had no opportunity to resolve that. In general, the unit was very clean and well equipped. We were in the 108 building, which is near the entrance to Summer Bay and behind the Crown Club Inn, which I think is their hotel.

http://www.exploriaresorts.com/destinations/summer-bay-orlando/

 

Special thanks to DawnM for all of the information she gave me about renting timeshares! God Bless you and your family! We were unable to buy a Certificate from Sky Auction.com because their Form for processing Credit Card payments only had Drop Down lists for States/Provinces, etc. for 4 countries, in their list of countries. We ended up buying on eBay which cost us $80 extra. The PayPal thing said the Seller was SkyAuction.com We paid $399.99 for the week, which included everything (taxes, WiFi, parking, service charges, etc.). We did not have time to use any of the wonderful facilities at Summer Bay other than eating in the Snack Bar after we checked in. The grounds are beautiful.

 

Summer Bay has free shuttle buses going to both Universal Orlando and Walt Disney World. The first day we were there (Monday, April 25th) we took the bus to Universal Orlando. The schedule said they would pick up at 705 A.M. At 705 A.M. I saw the bus enter Summer Bay. The driver made one stop at another property on the way, and I believe one man ended up standing. On the return, they stopped at 2 properties and many people were standing. We did not take shuttle buses to WDW, because of the schedules and paid $20 each day to park the car.

 

We bought a one day Park to Park at Universal Orlando. Saturday night, my wife said that in retrospect, knowing what we know now, we should have bought a 2 day Park to Park  ticket for Universal Orlando and spent Monday and Tuesday there, instead of only Monday. The first thing on the list DD had was the Dragon Challenge. I had no idea it was a Roller Coaster and it has probably been 10 or more years since I had a Stress EKG. After the ride my wife told us she had closed her eyes, thought she was going to die (she has Vertigo, which is one reason she is not an Astronaut) and that she would never ride a Roller Coaster again. She did ride one with us in Magic Kingdom, the next day. DD is into Harry Potter and she bought a lot of things (a Cape, a Magic Wand, etc. that she had wanted for a long time). The ticket lady tried to Upsell us to something expensive. I think about $95 for each person for the day. The VIP experience or something. I told my wife it was for people with a lot more money than we had. She was interested in knowing more. I told her that we didn't need it. She understood that.

Note: When the parks are really full (we were there in “Regular†season, not “Peak seasonâ€) if one can afford it, I believe that would be money well spent. I think you can go to the head of the lines, etc.

 

CAUTION: DO NOT have only one form of payment or getting cash available. A few days before the trip, my wife and DD called the bank that issued the cards, to tell them we would be in Florida. They were told DDs Debit Card could be used. She tried, several times to make purchases with her Debit Card, but there was no success, so we paid. And, for curiosity, she tried to get Cash with it after that, but as expected, that did not work either. It is a “Maestro†card, which I believe is a trademark of MasterCard. I don't know what someone would do, if they only had one way to pay for things or get cash from their bank account and that method did not work…

 

We were planning to buy a 4 Day ticket for WDW. The lady who helped us was from Colombia. We let her Upsell us toi a Park Hopper ticket. That was great. One day, we were in 2 parks. Last Friday, we were in all 4 parks. Animal Kingdom, unexpectedly, was our favorite of the 4 WDW parks. Epcot, which my wife and I had been in 16 years ago, was a big disappointment and we were hot We left there Friday afternoon and went to the other 3 parks, looking for other things to do and for something DD hadn't purchased the first time she saw it. In retrospect, we should have purchased a 3 day Park Hopper ticket for WDW.

 

Saturday, we went to Kennedy Space Center. My wife and I had toured KSC, with a childhood friend and his (late) wife 16 years ago and then another friend came to Orlando and we had the spectacular experience of seeing the launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, STS-101, on May 19, 2000 when my wife was pregnant with DD. Atlantis is now retired and on display at KSC. For my wife and me, to see Atlantis, up close was an emotional experience. I can't explain that, but we have a “connection†with Atlantis.

 

We did not go to the USA to eat (I doubt many visitors to the USA consider the food to be an attraction) and we had a low budget for food. The 2 best meals we had were not in the parks. One was Saturday afternoon, in the Orbit restaurant at KSC. Lots of very well cooked food at low prices . The other was in the Outlet mall on Vineland, where the Croc store is located. We bought 5 pairs of shoes in the Croc store and probably should have purchased several more pairs. Excellent service.

 

The ratings for us for the parks (from DDs, viewpoint, this trip was for her 15th birthday, which was last October, but we were not ready in October and I consider April and October to be the best months to visit the USA, because of the weather and the crowds). Universal Orlando, Kennedy Space Center and Animal Kingdom.

 

I asked in the Publix supermarket near Summer Bay, about the Stickers and Transponders that allow one to go through the SunPass lanes on the toll roads. The Sticker was $5 and the Transponder was $20.. I didn't buy one, because I figured we would only use it 2 days. That was fine, until the last toll booth. I had gotten off 528 at exit 8, to buy gas, before we returned the car yesterday. When I got back onto 528, there was another toll booth, a big surprise to me, and it only took quarters (possibly other coins, but I can't remember what it said).

 

Recently, we switched our cell phone service to Virgin Mobile Colombia. At this time, they do not have “Roaming†and I avoid “Roaming†because of the cost. I looked in the Publix market for a SIM card for a couple of minutes, but didn't find one that caught my eye. We had no cell phone service, we had no Data service. That was a horrible mistake and will not be repeated. For many reasons (emergency calls, locating someone in your party, using Waze and Google Maps If you need directions, or get lost, having service is necessary. That caused us a number of issues and would be worth whatever it costs.

 

Both of the international flights to/from the USA took approximately 3 ½ hours. After our flight from Bogota (BOG) to Cali (CLO) last night when the checked hard side Samsonite suitcase I'd taken (it was about ½ empty when we went to Orlando and full when we returned) had TSA tape all over it and it was open. They had opened it, for inspection. If they had had Avianca contact me, I had the key and would gladly have opened it for them. My wife thinks everything is there, but later I will get the receipts and she can verify that nothing was stolen or lost. I will check to see if the locks work properly and if not willl contact the company that issued the Travel Insurance policy, to see if that is covered. I think it covers lost or delayed baggage among other things, but we bought it in case of medical emergency or accident.

Also, I can contact our airline, Avianca, but I don't consider them to be responsible for the damage caused by TSA opening the suitcase.

 

We did not have time to go to the Beach, so that's for another trip. Ideally, one would have 10-14 days to do what we did and would not need to check into a Spa after their vacation to recover.

 

My wife said that you can tell who is in the parks on their first or second day, by the shoes they are wearing. The first days, wearing closed shoes and then changing to Crocs or some kind of clogs. I wore my Crocs or the similar shoes I'd bought here, every day in the parks.

 

Possibly something I've written will give someone else a hint on what to do, or, what not do do.

 

We had a WONDERFUL trip and we appreciate DawnM who gave us so much help with the Timeshare rental and everyone else who gave suggestions.

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Lanny

Lanny

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Follow-On # 1

 

Best to use restrooms before getting into long lines for attractions in the parks.  DD and I were seated in a car  on Space Mountain, ready to go,  and they took the ride off line. They had not (or could not) started the other track, earlier in the morning. We were probably sitting there for 15 or 20 minutes, while they brought both  tracks onine again.

 

FastPass+ is good for up to 3 attractions a day.  Best to go to a FastPass+ kiosk, after entering the park, to arrange your rides.

 

In Universal Orlando they give a 15% discount (on 1 and 2 day tickets?) to people who are disabled. I have P.T.S.D., so I did not ask for the discount, We saw *many* people on Scooters and in Wheelchairs. They certainly deserve a discount. I hope WDW also offers discounts to those who are disabled. 

bettyandbob

bettyandbob

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Follow-On # 1

 

 

In Universal Orlando they give a 15% discount (on 1 and 2 day tickets?) to people who are disabled. I have P.T.S.D., so I did not ask for the discount, We saw *many* people on Scooters and in Wheelchairs. They certainly deserve a discount. I hope WDW also offers discounts to those who are disabled.

That wasn't the case when inquired with my child who has an obvious disability Last summer. It will probably be abused, special passes at WDW were seriously abused (people getting boots or "renting" a disabled family member). The WDW passes have changed because of the abuse.

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Lanny

Lanny

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That wasn't the case when inquired with my child who has an obvious disability Last summer. It will probably be abused, special passes at WDW were seriously abused (people getting boots or "renting" a disabled family member). The WDW passes have changed because of the abuse.

 

That is very sad.  In general, we have a better feeling for Universal Orlando than   we do for WDW and what you wrote reinforces our belief. Both companies are extremely greedy, but I think WDW is worse.  We saw one girl or young woman who was in extremely bad shape.  Those discounts are IMO well deserved, but as you wrote, there was apparently a lot of abuse.  When we went to Kennedy Space Center, the parking was $10. The things we bought in the store were much more reasonable. The food was inexpensive and very good.  The company that runs the Visitor Center for NASA is obviously making money at those prices.  Universal and Disney are much more greedy than      NASA and the company that operates the KSC Visitor Center.  

Lanny

Lanny

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Follow On:  I asked my wife, this morning, if TTUISD or Tech (Texas Tech University) offers a Summer Camp for Non Brazilian students, like the one they have for the Brazilians, next year, if she thought DD would be able to travel, alone, from Cali, Colombia to Lubbock, Texas. My wife's instant response was that there would be no problem.

 

Based on our recent trip to Orlando, among other things, I would want DD to have more than one Debit Card, since the card she had did not work, when she tried to use it in the USA, despite the fact that my wife or DD had called the bank that issued the Debit Card, a few days before the trip, and was told it would work OK in the USA.

 

The other thing would be for DD to have Roaming service (Voice and Data) on her cell phone.

 

We would try to prepare her for anything we can think of that might go wrong.

 

As one of my childhood friends (who travels a lot) wrote to me, "when you travel, you must expect the unexpected"

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Lanny

Lanny

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Follow-On: DD told me, yesterday, that she did not think she could go alone to Lubbock, but that she could go alone to Orlando.  Alone to Orlando, no...  DD is into StarTrek.  Where will the 2017 StarTrek Convention be held? In Orlando FL USA.  It will be during April, which I believe is one of the 2 best months for travel in the USA (the other month is October).  God willing, DD and my wife can go up to Orlando next April and attend the StarTrek convention.

yucabird

yucabird

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Posted

 

Based on our recent trip to Orlando, among other things, I would want DD to have more than one Debit Card, since the card she had did not work, when she tried to use it in the USA, despite the fact that my wife or DD had called the bank that issued the Debit Card, a few days before the trip, and was told it would work OK in the USA.

 

 

 

My bold.  Lanny, do you have a US bank?  If so, you might ask them to set up a secondary account, then give her the debit to that.  (I could never get my Mx bank card to work in the US.)

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Lanny

Lanny

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Follow on about April 2017:   DD said she would like to buy the tickets for the April 2017 convention, when they go on sale on May 25th.  Tickets?  I told them there is no way I will buy  airline tickets, more than approximately 57 days before the first flight.  Convention tickets, OK...  I assume that if I checked the airline fares that exist at this time, for April 2017, they are 2 or 3 times what we want to pay.  Hopefully what we learned on the April 2016 trip will prevent us from making the same errors during April 2017...  Non-Stop Orlando , April 2017

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