Virgin Atlantic Y & J- LHR-MIA-LHR, Miami, Orlando & 2015 Chevy Tahoe
#16
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Delray Beach, FL
Programs: Delta Skymiles Gold Card holder, JetBlue Trueblue, HiltonHonors, Hertz #1 Club Gold
Posts: 344
You're welcome Louis! Glad to have subscribed to your trip report and I look forward to reading more! Thank you again!
#17
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: London
Programs: Amex Centurion, B.A. Silver, Virgin Atlantic Gold, C.X. Diamond
Posts: 203
My opinion: The Chevrolet Tahoe 2015 Model.
The Chevrolet Tahoe that we had for this trip was the LT model.
A bit about the 1st car:
It came with Florida plates and 24,000 miles on the clock.
It was the second-level trim. The first is LS. Then LT. Finally LTZ. We had LTZ last summer in L.A.
Base Price is $48,000
It roughly can achieve at best 23 MPG (We only have achieved 17mpg so far)
It’s main features are :
-Bose Surround Sound
-Reversing Cameras
-Heated and Ventilated front seats
-GPS.
The ride for an American car wasn’t too bad, but steering was pretty heavy. It was the same qualm that we had with the 2014 edition that we drove last Summer.
It has 8 seats but with all the luggage we have those rear seats will not come up.
Our experience:
As I previously mentioned we rented the car from Alamo, which was a mistake. The car arrived to us without being hoovered and had dirt all over the inside (see pictures):
I’m starting to think that the lighting inside their garage is dark for a reason…
Anyhow, three days later we had arrived in Orlando and I was at the Florida Mall with Dad and the boot of the car wouldn’t close. The mechanism got stuck and after taking the rear panel off the ‘trunk’ we were able to close it.
I decided to call Alamo at MCO to request an exchange and eventually after two days of calling four times a day, Dad and I drove up to the Alamo at MCO to swap out the old with a new one.
We had to refuel first, and of course there was no Petrol Station anywhere near our end of MCO.
We eventually found a Shell 15 minutes away after driving through the airport twice.
Drop off's at MCO:
Shell:
After dropping $10 on toll's we arrived. And after spending another half an hour waiting for the new one to arrive. We were out by 23:15. A full 1hr:25 minutes after we arrived in the MCO complex.
There was a huge difference with the old one and the new one.
The new one had:
-A sunroof
-Lane assist
-Rear-entertainment
-On-Star Navigation.
It also had 15,000 miles on the clock and for some reason had better handling.
The bottom line for this car is that it is great when out here on holiday. We have had a Tahoe every time we have come to America on holiday in the last 5 or so years which means that I have been in the 2015, 2014, and 2012 edition. This means that I have been able to watch the car develop and compare to previous editions.
Would I buy one if it came out in England?- No. We have only achieved 18 miles to the gallon. Our Panamera achieves 31 miles and its technically a 'sports car.' The handling wouldn’t match to anything that is on offer in Europe anyway. It would need some serious changes if it entered the EU market. BUT then again it isn’t really designed for that market, so it isn't a fair comparison.
Would I buy one if I moved to America?- Maybe. But like all cars, if you speck if right then yeah. But for this price you can get a second-hand Range Rover (new shape) which is much more preferable in my opinion.
Would I recommend this car as a rental? - I have sought MrLittSr’s advice on this and we would. It’s an experience that adds to your vacation. It’s better than a Toyota Sienna thats for sure!
If this car was a human who would it be?- Piers Morgan. You either love him or hate him. He is only designed for a few markets and can’t be taken and used everywhere without changes being made
Amount of Stars out of Five- 3.5/5
*If there are any more specific pictures you would like, please ask.*
A bit about the 1st car:
It came with Florida plates and 24,000 miles on the clock.
It was the second-level trim. The first is LS. Then LT. Finally LTZ. We had LTZ last summer in L.A.
Base Price is $48,000
It roughly can achieve at best 23 MPG (We only have achieved 17mpg so far)
It’s main features are :
-Bose Surround Sound
-Reversing Cameras
-Heated and Ventilated front seats
-GPS.
The ride for an American car wasn’t too bad, but steering was pretty heavy. It was the same qualm that we had with the 2014 edition that we drove last Summer.
It has 8 seats but with all the luggage we have those rear seats will not come up.
Our experience:
As I previously mentioned we rented the car from Alamo, which was a mistake. The car arrived to us without being hoovered and had dirt all over the inside (see pictures):
I’m starting to think that the lighting inside their garage is dark for a reason…
Anyhow, three days later we had arrived in Orlando and I was at the Florida Mall with Dad and the boot of the car wouldn’t close. The mechanism got stuck and after taking the rear panel off the ‘trunk’ we were able to close it.
I decided to call Alamo at MCO to request an exchange and eventually after two days of calling four times a day, Dad and I drove up to the Alamo at MCO to swap out the old with a new one.
We had to refuel first, and of course there was no Petrol Station anywhere near our end of MCO.
We eventually found a Shell 15 minutes away after driving through the airport twice.
Drop off's at MCO:
Shell:
After dropping $10 on toll's we arrived. And after spending another half an hour waiting for the new one to arrive. We were out by 23:15. A full 1hr:25 minutes after we arrived in the MCO complex.
There was a huge difference with the old one and the new one.
The new one had:
-A sunroof
-Lane assist
-Rear-entertainment
-On-Star Navigation.
It also had 15,000 miles on the clock and for some reason had better handling.
The bottom line for this car is that it is great when out here on holiday. We have had a Tahoe every time we have come to America on holiday in the last 5 or so years which means that I have been in the 2015, 2014, and 2012 edition. This means that I have been able to watch the car develop and compare to previous editions.
Would I buy one if it came out in England?- No. We have only achieved 18 miles to the gallon. Our Panamera achieves 31 miles and its technically a 'sports car.' The handling wouldn’t match to anything that is on offer in Europe anyway. It would need some serious changes if it entered the EU market. BUT then again it isn’t really designed for that market, so it isn't a fair comparison.
Would I buy one if I moved to America?- Maybe. But like all cars, if you speck if right then yeah. But for this price you can get a second-hand Range Rover (new shape) which is much more preferable in my opinion.
Would I recommend this car as a rental? - I have sought MrLittSr’s advice on this and we would. It’s an experience that adds to your vacation. It’s better than a Toyota Sienna thats for sure!
If this car was a human who would it be?- Piers Morgan. You either love him or hate him. He is only designed for a few markets and can’t be taken and used everywhere without changes being made
Amount of Stars out of Five- 3.5/5
*If there are any more specific pictures you would like, please ask.*
Last edited by louislitt; Jul 28, 2015 at 9:18 am
#18
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: London
Programs: Amex Centurion, B.A. Silver, Virgin Atlantic Gold, C.X. Diamond
Posts: 203
Kennedy Space Centre
*Thud*
*Thud*
*Thud*
*Looks around*
*Puts head on pillow goes back to sleep*
Mum- Louis get out of bed we leave for Titusville in 30 minutes, your Dad has a conference call that he wants to take on the road. Did you not get his calendar invite- you are late!
Me: Tit-what?!
Like any 17 year old the only part of that conversation that hit home was the Tit bit and that I was late.
I awoke that morning late in a rush, and heavily jet-lagged whilst trying to get dressed like Wallace and Gromit do in their cartoons. Of course they didnt have their mother screaming at them but I did.
For those of you that are in the know, Titusville is where Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Centre (KSC) is located. KSC if you havent worked it out yet is the destination for todays trip.
I managed to meet the parent enforced deadline and after packing my bag we hit the road for todays adventure.
The distance from our home to KSC is around 1hr give or take 10 minutes.
I called On-Star to program our address and we were soon on our way.
Our routing took us past MCO, where we were the previous evening and surprise surprise we were fleeced once again by the 4 toll booths in the space of 20 miles.
At least I know the difference between all of the American coins.
Soon we arrived on the Florida Coastline:
We arrived at Kennedy and from this point im going to let the pictures do the talking.
JFK Memorial:
We took to the Apollo building and simulation centre immediately after arrival.
The back of Atlantis:
Psst and I thought the A380 was difficult to fly:
Landing Gear:
Want
We then took the bus tour and after waiting for 35 minutes and running into my physics teacher and his family from school we boarded our coach looking forward to a myriad of discoveries.
Go on Elon!:
Empty back row:
These overhead lights look older than the ones on the 747-400:
We drove around for about 20 minutes and then it started to rain.
We eventually arrived at the next exhibit where we stopped for lunch.
We went around the next exhibit:
Rain
Finally time to leave but not before a visit to the gift shop:
Can't drink from this with a straight face:
Soon we were back on the road but not before a pit stop to Orlando's outlets on International Drive:
Our route home took us past MCO which housed a couple of UPS MD-11's:
Next up: Universal Studios Orlando VIP Tour
*Thud*
*Thud*
*Looks around*
*Puts head on pillow goes back to sleep*
Mum- Louis get out of bed we leave for Titusville in 30 minutes, your Dad has a conference call that he wants to take on the road. Did you not get his calendar invite- you are late!
Me: Tit-what?!
Like any 17 year old the only part of that conversation that hit home was the Tit bit and that I was late.
I awoke that morning late in a rush, and heavily jet-lagged whilst trying to get dressed like Wallace and Gromit do in their cartoons. Of course they didnt have their mother screaming at them but I did.
For those of you that are in the know, Titusville is where Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Centre (KSC) is located. KSC if you havent worked it out yet is the destination for todays trip.
I managed to meet the parent enforced deadline and after packing my bag we hit the road for todays adventure.
The distance from our home to KSC is around 1hr give or take 10 minutes.
I called On-Star to program our address and we were soon on our way.
Our routing took us past MCO, where we were the previous evening and surprise surprise we were fleeced once again by the 4 toll booths in the space of 20 miles.
At least I know the difference between all of the American coins.
Soon we arrived on the Florida Coastline:
We arrived at Kennedy and from this point im going to let the pictures do the talking.
JFK Memorial:
We took to the Apollo building and simulation centre immediately after arrival.
The back of Atlantis:
Psst and I thought the A380 was difficult to fly:
Landing Gear:
Want
We then took the bus tour and after waiting for 35 minutes and running into my physics teacher and his family from school we boarded our coach looking forward to a myriad of discoveries.
Go on Elon!:
Empty back row:
These overhead lights look older than the ones on the 747-400:
We drove around for about 20 minutes and then it started to rain.
We eventually arrived at the next exhibit where we stopped for lunch.
We went around the next exhibit:
Rain
Finally time to leave but not before a visit to the gift shop:
Can't drink from this with a straight face:
Soon we were back on the road but not before a pit stop to Orlando's outlets on International Drive:
Our route home took us past MCO which housed a couple of UPS MD-11's:
Next up: Universal Studios Orlando VIP Tour
#19
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: DCA
Posts: 7,761
#20
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: London
Programs: Amex Centurion, B.A. Silver, Virgin Atlantic Gold, C.X. Diamond
Posts: 203
Universal Studios VIP Tour Orlando
There are three things in life I will queue for:
1)Food.
2)Apple products.
3)Planes.
So there was no surprise then that I was against the next segment of this trip report.
*Three Months Ago*
Dad:Louis we have to go to one theme park when we are in Orlando. Your sister wants to go.
Louis: No I hate them. Tell her if she goes I will change the Spotify password.
Dad: Louis ive booked the tickets
Louis: F*ck. Fine.Which one?
Dad: Unviersal Studios.
Louis: We went there last year. How different can it be?
Dad: They have Harry Potter land.
*Game over*
Having lost my battle to a British teenager with glasses who was always looking for trouble I knew that there was no way I could win this battle.
*Three months later*
Our home is only 30 minutes away from Universal Studios and as such there wasnt really much of a drive required to get to the park.
We had booked a VIP tour which is what we did in LA last year, where you get a guide to take you around a park which means that there is no queueing required whatsoever. This comes with a continental breakfast and Valet Parking.
We followed the signs to Valet Parking and arrived for our 11:00 slot.
Queue for Valet Parking:
Here:
Time to find the VIP entrance.
It was to the right of this sign:
It looks like i've set foot in my grandparents victorian home...
My 'continental breakfast':
As I sat there amused as this message appeared on my phone:
There were 10 of us in our 11 O'Clock slot, compared to the 8 we had in LA.
I headed to the gents before we rolled out. A dated lavatory:
Our first ride of the morning was the minions motion simulator:
Get to skip the 1hr:25 minute wait time:
... to be in within 3 minutes:
Slightly creepy...
Rating out of 5: 4/5 (It gets dull after you have done it more than twice)
The next ride was the Hollywood Rip Ride:
I sat that one out so i can't really rate it.
Park map:
[/url]
The next ride was the Transformers ride:
Rating out of 5: 5/5.
Next up was Harry Potter World the reason for this trip :roll eyes::
If I got on the tube I could be home in about 10 stops:
Kings Cross the entrance point for the Hogwarts Express (which was apparently highly accurate- it wasn't at all!)
There were three 'rides' here:
1) The Escape from Gringots
2) The Hogwarts Express train experience which you can use to get from Universal to Islands of Adventure
3) Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
Landan Town:
[/url]
First stop Gringots Bank:
Rating out of 5: 4/5
-Starts really well but basically turns into a 'Thomas the Tank Engine' experience towards the end leaving most people wanting more.
After that it was time for lunch were we would meet at 13:15 to get on the Hogwarts Express:
My lunch:
*I have hit my 100 picture limit. Please hold for Part 2 of Universal Studios*
#22
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: London
Programs: Amex Centurion, B.A. Silver, Virgin Atlantic Gold, C.X. Diamond
Posts: 203
Universal Studios VIP Tour Orlando Part 2
With lunch over the tour reassembled outside Kings Cross (St Pancras) to board the Piccadilly Line to Heathrow Terminals 1,2,3 and 5 (HAH I wish).... um I mean to Islands of Adventure on the Hogwarts Express:
There was a video played on the windows of the carriage to make the experience realistic:
After a quick 10 minute ride and missing out on the 45 minute wait time for the Hogwarts Express we arrived at 'Islands of Adventure' or 'the Hogwarts Castle'
First step get some Butterbeer:
Review of the butterbeer: 3.5/5- It tasted a bit weird to be honest and wasn't that brilliant. I felt a bit sick afterwards.
Still in Harry Potter land:
Interestingly enough JK Rowling had banned the use of any non-Hogwarts branded drinks here and as such all the drinks had been marked with brands mentioned in Harry Potter.
We did a couple more rides such as E.T and M.I.B and then our tour ended and we were given Unlimited Express passes to use at our own pace in case we wanted to do any of the rides again.
I haven't reviewed these rides but do feel free to look at the pictures:
We didn't but instead went to the Harry Potter cake shop:
An expensive cake shop:
IT'S THE PHILOSOPHERS STONE FFS:
Visit to the gift shop:
It in Florida style began to rain:
Soon it became time to go:
Back to Valet Parking:
Thank you for reading this section.
Next up is the review of VS6 MIA-LHR in Upper Class
There was a video played on the windows of the carriage to make the experience realistic:
After a quick 10 minute ride and missing out on the 45 minute wait time for the Hogwarts Express we arrived at 'Islands of Adventure' or 'the Hogwarts Castle'
First step get some Butterbeer:
Review of the butterbeer: 3.5/5- It tasted a bit weird to be honest and wasn't that brilliant. I felt a bit sick afterwards.
Still in Harry Potter land:
Interestingly enough JK Rowling had banned the use of any non-Hogwarts branded drinks here and as such all the drinks had been marked with brands mentioned in Harry Potter.
We did a couple more rides such as E.T and M.I.B and then our tour ended and we were given Unlimited Express passes to use at our own pace in case we wanted to do any of the rides again.
I haven't reviewed these rides but do feel free to look at the pictures:
We didn't but instead went to the Harry Potter cake shop:
An expensive cake shop:
IT'S THE PHILOSOPHERS STONE FFS:
Visit to the gift shop:
It in Florida style began to rain:
Soon it became time to go:
Back to Valet Parking:
Thank you for reading this section.
Next up is the review of VS6 MIA-LHR in Upper Class
#24
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2012
Location: MCO
Programs: AA, B6, DL, EK, EY, QR, SQ, UA, Amex Plat, Marriott Tit, HHonors Gold
Posts: 12,809
Nice report! It's funny seeing roads and scenery that I'm used to seeing on a weekly basis in a TR on here, not used to that.
#26
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: London
Programs: Amex Centurion, B.A. Silver, Virgin Atlantic Gold, C.X. Diamond
Posts: 203
#27
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: London
Programs: Amex Centurion, B.A. Silver, Virgin Atlantic Gold, C.X. Diamond
Posts: 203
#28
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2012
Location: MCO
Programs: AA, B6, DL, EK, EY, QR, SQ, UA, Amex Plat, Marriott Tit, HHonors Gold
Posts: 12,809
Seriously though, the Central FL tolls were originally constructed to pay for the non-federal freeways such as the 408, 417, 528, etc. About a decade ago it was announced that the debt incurred by those projects had been paid off and that the tolls were no longer really needed which paired simultaneously with a price hike in tolls across Orange County. Many people were pretty miffed by that.
#29
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: London
Programs: Amex Centurion, B.A. Silver, Virgin Atlantic Gold, C.X. Diamond
Posts: 203
Glad that you enjoyed this Trip Report CMD I despise I4 (East and West) so so much!! It is full of people attempting to drive Suburbans that can't drive them and then crash into the central reservation
Hope you enjoy the rest of this trip report.
Kind Regards LL