so how hard a drive is it from miami?

[california37]

Hi

Just wanted to update on what it was like driving from Miami... well- we wouldn't do it again in a hurry!

Our flight was from Manchester was delayed by 90 mins. The aircraft wasn't very comfortable but the food was the nicest I've had on a plane. No drinks however and the juice at meal times is very questionable if you can call it that. Entertainment was poor to say the least too.

It took 2 hours from disembarkment to get out of the airport and another 50 mins to get to the car rental place and have a car. This is including walking straight through immigration (we beat the queue!) and using the automated machines. The main wait was the hike (it really is a hike!) from where the plane stops to passport control. I was however prepared for that having had Feedback from you guys! Carrying hand luggage and a 10 month old plus a tired 3 year old and 7 year old-not fun! The longest wait was for our car seats :/ took about 30 mins after we got our cases for them to turn up!

Have to say first time with Thomas cook and not very impressed.... attendants pleasant enough but quality of product was poor. Our car seats were not looked after and came off the place literally in pieces. And one of our cases looked like it had been run over. Not sure if that was TC's fault or the airport....

We rented from Alamo as per usual and did skip the counter as usual. The choice of cars at Miami was very poor - a lot smaller than at Orlando. Again not very impressed.

Realise there's little you can do about traffic but Miami traffic on a Friday evening to get into the turnpike was another delay

Basically from our home to animal kingdom where we are staying took 24 hours. Long day for my DH who drove the whole trip. Not something we would repeat for the saving. I realise some of the problems we had were unfortunate events and had no control over but made a long journey worse

Thinking about doing a layover next time to make it cheaper - based on feedback from you guys again seems to be ok !

Any questions please ask!

Oh and it didn't help that upon arrival at our resort (kidani) post midnight - our villa is amazing and what we asked for in terms of location etc.. however there was no pack and play or a baby highchair in our room. Had to wait over an hour for them to bring me DS' bed to put him to sleep! Luckily he's ok as long as I'm cuddling him/breastfeeding him but I was shattered and this didn't help the delays!!!

 

[Jon84]

The condition of your luggage has nothing to do with the Airline, it's always the Airport Staff.

Sad that you had a less than great experience with TC though, we've flown with them twice prior to refurb, and twice since the refurbs. But have only flown Premium with them. In their defence it is quite clear that their Entertainment is literally 4 films, and that there is no drink or food service included when you fly Eco.

 

[california37]

Yeah I knew what we had signed up for when we booked re:flight entertainment and meals etc.. just dissapointed that when they said 'juice' I thought they meant actual juice not some questionable squash substitute that my kids wouldn't touch. When they came around with 'tea' my daughter asked for water instead only to be told they didn't have any (! Which I actually thought was ridiculous not to have any drinking water on the flight!) as for entertainment... I kind of expected something a bit more- even their entertainment package (upsell at £5 for economy) was absolute rubbish for us (unstand that others may have a different opinion)

We went prepared with drinks / snacks and our own tablets etc... just expected more than 'no frills' for the length of journey and cost. I also was prepared to have our DS (10 months) on my knee without a bulkhead seat as you can get on virgin- but the plastic hard seats with TC meant the journey was more than uncomfortable.... again wouldn't be bad for a shorter flight but 9+ hours....

We would upgrade on our way home (although we visited premium as my inlaws flew there with us) but tbh for the cost I don't think it gives you enough. Plus there's no premium on our return flight anyway so that's a non starter--- I'm not looking forward to the return flight- especially as it's not seat back entertainment but rather overhead TVs.... on a night flight. Hope they switch them off!!!!

 

[Jon84]

Yeah I knew what we had signed up for when we booked re:flight entertainment and meals etc.. just dissapointed that when they said 'juice' I thought they meant actual juice not some questionable squash substitute that my kids wouldn't touch. When they came around with 'tea' my daughter asked for water instead only to be told they didn't have any (! Which I actually thought was ridiculous not to have any drinking water on the flight!) as for entertainment... I kind of expected something a bit more- even their entertainment package (upsell at £5 for economy) was absolute rubbish for us (unstand that others may have a different opinion)

We went prepared with drinks / snacks and our own tablets etc... just expected more than 'no frills' for the length of journey and cost. I also was prepared to have our DS (10 months) on my knee without a bulkhead seat as you can get on virgin- but the plastic hard seats with TC meant the journey was more than uncomfortable.... again wouldn't be bad for a shorter flight but 9+ hours....

We would upgrade on our way home (although we visited premium as my inlaws flew there with us) but tbh for the cost I don't think it gives you enough. Plus there's no premium on our return flight anyway so that's a non starter--- I'm not looking forward to the return flight- especially as it's not seat back entertainment but rather overhead TVs.... on a night flight. Hope they switch them off!!!!

I think the Premium price compared to Virgin or BA is amazing to be honest.

Good luck on the tanker on the way home

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Miami is 4 hr drive to WDW. Tampa is 1hr 40 minutes so I am not sure why OP says Tampa is a long drive for him. Miami is longer. You are looking to spend about 10 hours of your vacation time driving to/from Miami because 4 hrs is on a good day without traffic. If you are driving back to Miami on the day you fly home, you better allow 5-6 hrs to get to the airport in case there is a traffic tie up.

 

[richmo]

...We rented from Alamo as per usual and did skip the counter as usual. The choice of cars at Miami was very poor - a lot smaller than at Orlando. Again not very impressed....

I noticed this too. We picked up a rental at MIA after a cruise (about 8:30 on a Friday morning) a couple weeks ago and there were no cars in the midsize or fullsize aisles. At the midsize aisle, an Alamo employee had us wait in an impromptu line as they brought cars out. There was no wander down the aisle and pick your favorite as there usually is in Orlando. Not sure if this is common at MIA...