奇妙展館的多元體驗 wonderworks, Orlando

 Wonderworks 奇妙展館的多元體驗

1月29日

時差加上疲倦, 大伙兒一直到睡至中午時候才起床. 

自由行讓我們可以因應需要而改動行程, 比旅遊團自由很多.

 

梳洗後駕車去商場吃午飯. 酒店附近已有購物中心，十分方便。

在沃爾馬買了些食用品便到餐廳吃個包。之後駛到Orlando Eye 奥籣多之眼。拍了照便到Wonderworks 遊玩。

那是一座看似倒轉的房屋，外形非常獨特。而內裏更是有很多老少皆宜嘅活動，很適合一家大少。

我們在那裡玩了六小時，計有4D電影、激光射擊、空中障礙行、泡泡樂、釘床、立體畫、腦力比拼、電子足球、太空人訓練⋯⋯ 非常豐富。

玩累了後，走到旁邊的餐廳區吃了一頓日本菜。味道也不錯，只是選擇比香港的日本菜少。

回到酒店，再續餐後甜品--- 生果宴。

這一天，十分休閑及滿足。

[Orlando 奧蘭多] Entering USA through Dallas 從達拉斯入境美國 [ Cont'd]

 

 

We had expressed the tight connection flight schedule to the officer but still, we had to wait and wait and wait...

 

There were around 10 officers in the room but most of them were gathered together for some discussions.  As a result, only one counter was opened to call the visitors and to give them the passports.

 

After waiting for 30 minutes, we had expressed the urgency again but no other support was provided.  We had to wait for another 15 minutes before our names were being called.  The officer just passed the passports to us without any note.
 

 

The 2nd step : Got the luggage

 

After the immigration, we still had 10 minutes left before the boarding time.  We ran to the baggage claim area and immediately found our luggage sitting next to the airport conveyor belt. 

The 3rd step : Went through the customs

We grabbed the luggage and ran again to the customs and the heart breaking long queue was in front of us!  People are queuing up for the inspection by the custom officers. 

It took us another 15 minutes to get through the custom counter.  

  

The 4th step : Rechecked the baggage to Orlando flight

After passing the customs counter, we had identified the baggage rechecked area right away.  It was already 5 minutes passed the boarding time.  We had no choice but sent the baggage as planned and then ran to the boarding gate ...

 

The 5th step : Went through the security

Before entering into the boarding area, we needed to pass through the security check counter.  And in front counter, there was a long queue again!  We had spent another 20 minutes to get through. 

 

The 6th step : Went to the gate and get onto the Orlando flight.

We all knew that we might not catch the plane at that time but we tried our best to arrive the gate in the shortest time.  Since the gate was far away that we needed to take a skyline train, finally, we had missed the flight and needed to spent another 2 hours waiting for another plane :-(

Well, at least we could relax and got some food. 

After another 2.5 hours flight, we had arrived Orlando airport.

We rented the car and drove to the hotel.

The hotel was comfortable and we could finally have a better sleep after the long day...

  

[Orlando 奧蘭多] Entering USA through Dallas 從達拉斯入境美國

 

Jan 28, 2017 (Saturday) was the first day of the year of Rooster in Chinese.  Flowers such as Peach Blossoms and new year decorations made the cold steel / concrete made HK airport warmer. 

 

"God of Wealth" greeted visitors from around the world.  This was one of the beautiful moment in the HK airport.

 

We had plenty of time looking around, walking to the gate and boarding onto the plane.  

Before getting onto the plane, we needed to go through a second security check specially required for flight to US.  We had to line up for checking the boarding pass and the passport, for second security check and for finding an overhead cabinet to store the bags.  The overhead cabinet was filled up by the hand carry luggage and we had to put our bags several seats away.

 

The entertainment on the plane was very good which helped us get through the 14 hours flying time.

 

     

We arrived Dallas, US in the afternoon the same day.  This was the nice part when traveling from HK to US :-)

 

Because we needed to transfer from Dallas to Orlando and we had 2 hours in Dallas to catch the next flight, we had prepared to go through the steps with our fastest move .....

 

1.  Went through the immigration

2.  Got the baggage

3.  Went through the customs

4.  Rechecked the baggage to Orlando flight

5.  Went through the security

6.  Went to the gate and get onto the Orlando flight

 

 

The first step : Went through the immigration

 

 

It was no need to fill out the paper immigration form now as the form could be filled out electronically.  It was the first time we used the machine and instead of scanning the VISA, we had wrongly scanned the passport.  And then, we had received an error message. 

 

Fortunately, with the help from the attendance, we could complete the electronic forms again in a short time.  We quickly moved to the immigration officer but we had a bad luck at that time...

 

The officer directed us to a room and said that "Because checking was needed, please waited here.  The officer would call your name.".

 

I was not sure if it was the effect of the Muslim travel ban or not, I had seen that there were more than 20 people waiting in the room.

 

"My GOD!" ....

 

 

to be continued. 

[2017 Orlando] Trip Preparation and Reservation 奧蘭多旅程策劃及準備

Preparation and Reservation required before the trip to Orlando:

1.  Flight

 

-  Normally, earlier booking for trip during the peak season could have better chances of getting cheaper ticket.  But sometime, airlines would have promotion or additional flight with lower prices available.

-  Use of ticket scanning website could better identify the appropriate flight .

-  Better to book the flight with arrival time in the earlier evening so that a longer sleep at the appropriate local time could be arranged.

-  If the plane would fly through north pole or beautiful places, window seats should be chosen.  For the AA flight flew through pacific ocean, we selected the middle seats to secure the access to the aisles for comforts during the 14 hours flight.

- When making reservation, personal information had to be inputted accurately.

2.  Hotel

 

-  There were lots of options on places to stay such as houses, hotels, apartments, condo,...etc

-  Typical fee for a house was around USD 200 per night while hotel was around USD 100 per night.

-  To stay in house, it was better to arrive early for easier finding the place and check in.

-  Chose the location best fit the travel plan.

-  For traveling with family, better not to change hotel too frequent.  Otherwise, some time would be wasting on packing and unpacking.

-  US hotel would normally have little kitchen with microwave so that one could prepare own meals purchased from the stores.

3.  Car

 

-  Renting a car was common in US.  But driving was on the opposite side from that in Hong Kong.

-  Needed to get the international driving license in Hong Kong.

-  Booked the car earlier for better price and more choices.

-  Chose a suitable size car to carry the people and the luggage.

4.  Tickets

 

-  Theme parks tickets could have better discounts when purchasing online.  If there was time to prepare, chose suitable tickets and purchased online.

-  Theme parks tickets were expensive in Orlando.  e.g. Disneyworld, USD 100+ per park and there were 4.  Universal studios, USD 150+ for two parks... etc. 

-  Getting online tickets could also avoid queuing for buying tickets.  As to enter the theme park, one would need to queue for security, and then ticketing, and then the entrance gate.

5.  Cash

 

-  Exchanged some USD for daily use.  Planned to use credit card for hotel and other places with higher security for credit card usage.

6.  Other

 

-  Ensured the passport had longer than 6 months validity and with the valid VISA.

Traveling to Orlando, USA from Hong Kong - Visa [美國簽證]

 

 

If it is the first time traveling to US, a US Visa (normally, B1/B2 visa) is required.

It is better to get the visa first as some processing time are required.  

The general process will be:

With some update and note:

1. The new application website:

Applying US Visa

2. In general, the visa will be valid for 10 years. 

3. The visa will be attached to the passport.  When the passport is expired, the visa could still be used provided that the visa has not been damaged during the renewal of the passport.