Holidays :)

I'm baaaccckkk

Sadly I am back home, the holidays all over :(

We had a great time despite being in NYC when the bombs went off! and the UN was meeting oh and Obama was there!  We also enjoyed Orlando as always with plenty of fun in the parks and shopping.

I thought I would just post a really brief over view(for lots of photos and shiz you can always check out my insta and fb pages where I posted random stuff using the free wifi :) )

Hotels: for more detailed reviews and pic feel free to check out my tripadvisor reports on them

1. Travelodge Central Gatwick - we paid like £58 for double room B&B. Room was fine - included aircon which was quite and effective - bed was comfy, usual shower/hair/body wash in dispenser on the wall in the bathroom. Brekkie was OMG amazing :D  all you can eat cooked breakfast plus pastries, toast, cereals, yoghurts, fruit etc and tea coffee and juice - we stuffed ourselves and then stuffed ourselves some more! It was included in our room booking but for those who dont have the B&B option it cost like £7.99 and is deffo work that!

2. Days Inn & Suites Jamaica JFK Queens New York - I paid £280 for a double room with a king!(it so wasnt!) bed for 3 nights. Room included tea/coffee, fridge, private bathroom with toiletries, free working wifi, flat screen tv etc. and working AC. Hotel located in an industrial area but lots of places around it are closed down and the rumour was that the area is being gentrified with new schools and parks being put in - from the buildings and stuff around I would say thats probably right. Hotel was 5 min walk from major subway station and shops, food outlets, cinema complex etc. Hotel was clean, staff friendly, breakfast good selection. Free transport to and from airport was a bonus but we couldnt get through to arrange the airport pick up so had to gt a cab ($20 including tip for a 20 min ride) but were able to arrange to go back to the airport via the shuttle. Would happily stay here again.

3. Floridian Express on International Drive, Orlando - I paid $450 for a double room with 2 queen beds for 9 nights. Room was huge with 2 queen beds, a desk, chest of drawers, storage space, private bathroom with shower, bath, toilet, sink, fridge and microwave but no kettle or coffee machine) working but incredibly loud ac, working wifi. Also included a free breakfast (limited choices of waffles, toast, 2 x cereals, tea/coffee and juice), free shuttle to the parks, free printing of boarding passes. Location great right opposite wet n wild, next to a dairy queen and some gift shops, lynx bus stop literally right out front and trolly stop less than 100m walk away. Within 5/10 min walk to walgreens, lots of shops, restaurants etc. Daily housekeeping. Again would happily stay here again.

Flights:

To NYC (JFK) from Gatwick - we flew Norwegian air - we did not pre-book out seats together or book any food on the plane. We checked in 4 hours before our flight - were assigned seats together. Flight was comfy and not fully booked so we had a row of 3 seats between 2 of us. Ended up buying drinks on flight at $3 each for a can off pop but as flights were only around £200 still a bargain

JFK - MCO (Orlando) - we flew jetblue - flights cost £100 and included 1 piece of checked baggage. Got upgraded for free to the extra space seats - free onboard wi-fi and free snacks and drinks - flight was delayed due to thunderstorms in the orlando area and we spent like an hour sat on the tarmac before being allowed to get off on arrival.

MCO - Gatwick - we flew Norwegian air - again didnt pay to prebook our seats together or for food - got stuff in the airport to take on plane. Again lucked out and got sat together in a row of 3 with a spare seat so could spread out. Sadly despite our flight being at 1am couldnt sleep due to a young baby who screamed for the entire 7 hour flight! Paid £30 online prior to flight to take extra case home - much cheaper than being over at the airport.

Overall -flights with norwegian on the dreamliner were good - the entertainment was limited with no music channels and limited tv shows, games and older movies available. The toilets were larger than average and clean. Seats were comfy and there was plenty of room - there was also plenty of room in the overhead lockers. Food choices - we didnt buy food we took stuff on the flight (pringles, cereal bars and chocolate) and we purchased sandwiches after security in the airport. We were lucky that we got sat together - by not prebooking our seats or booking food we saved over £200.

Flights with jetblue were great and will deffo look at booking them again (sadly they only do internal flights)

Locations:

NYC - crazy busy but lots of fun - we used the subway easily and managed to get around without difficulty, plenty to see and do,  we visited china town, 9/11 memorial and statue of liberty/ellis island. We found plenty of cheap places to eat that were not only cheap but healthy too (I had a kale, chicken and wild rice soup in one which was delicious). Will deffo be visiting again in the future!

Orlando - this year we only did SeaWorld, Aquatica and Busch Gardens but still enjoyed ourselves, the queues at all the parks were non-existent we pretty much walked onto every ride we wanted. The weather was great we had 2 days of rain - the day before we left and the day we left - we just went shopping :) Food as always was great we ate a variety of places and mostly healthy stuff  too. We used the lynx bus system to get around, along with the occasional UBER and trolley ride. The highlight for me was riding Falcon's Fury in BG which I hadnt ridden before and of course my fave rollercoaster - Sheikra :)

In total for the whole holiday including spending money, parks/admissions, ubers, transport, flights, hotels, travel insurance etc I spent around £1400 which is under the £1500  budget I had for this years hol :)