[🍁 Toronto Report] I went on a trip to Florida during my business trip to Canada and my summer vacation!

Introduction

It's been a long time!

Hi, I'm a chick from the Systems Solutions Department, currently on a business trip to Toronto using the Canadian training program 🐤
Every year in the fall, I take advantage of my summer vacation to go on a family trip, but
this time it coincided with my business trip to Toronto, so I combined Beyond's company benefits and welfare programs
to take my family on a trip to Florida! !
So, I'd like to introduce the welfare programs I used and my schedule.

destination

The place I visited this time was the land of dreams, Florida!!!
The reason why it's the land of dreams
is, of course, because it's home to theme parks like my beloved Disney World and Universal Studios ♡
Actually, this is my third time visiting Florida, but due to various circumstances, I hadn't been able to go to the Star Wars area until now, and I finally got to visit the Harry Potter Ministry of Magic area in Epic World, which opened last year!

Company systems and employee benefits used

The following three systems were used this time.
Since it was also my sister's birthday trip, I used the early leave for special occasions and booked a flight for the evening after work!

①
A system that allows one infrastructure engineer to stay and work in Canada for three months on a rotating basis.

② Summer Vacation
: A system that grants up to 5 days of vacation during the period taken.

■ Period taken:
July 1st to September 30th

■ Number of vacation days:
New graduates (3rd year onwards): 5
days; Mid-career hires (2nd year onwards):
5 days; New graduates (2nd
year onwards): 4 days; Mid-career hires (1st year onwards): 4 days;
New graduates (1st year onwards): 3 days

③ Early departure for special occasions:
On family or partner birthdays/anniversaries, you can work 6 hours (7 hours including breaks) and leave 2 hours earlier than usual.
→ You can take up to 4 of these special occasions per year.

 

Florida trip

Advance preparation

・Round-trip airfare to the destination
・Arrangement of accommodation
・Rental car reservation (The Hiyoko family always uses rental cars for transportation when traveling)
・ESTA
→ Electronic Travel Authorization System for travelers to the United States for tourism, short-term business, or transit purposes for stays of 90 days or less
・Mobile Passport Control (For those traveling to the United States for the second time or more using ESTA authorization)
→ Allows for faster immigration processing by submitting passport information and customs declarations in advance via the app
・MCO Reserve
→ A reservation service that allows priority passage through security checkpoints at Orlando International Airport (MCO) in the United States

Travel schedule

This time, I enjoyed a 9-night, 10-day trip to Florida!

8/28 (Fri) 20:55 Toronto YYZ → 23:47 Orlando MCO
8/29 (Sat) WDW: Disney's Typhoon Lagoon
8/30 (Sun) WDW: Epcot
8/31 (Mon) Universal Epic Universe
9/01 (Tue) Outlet Mall x WDW: Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party
9/02 (Wed) WDW: Disney's Hollywood Studios
9/03 (Thu) WDW: Disney Springs
9/04 (Fri) WDW: Disney's Animal Kingdom
9/05 (Sat) WDW: Magic Kingdom Park
9/06 (Sun) 11:55 Orlando MCO → 14:45 Toronto YYZ

Transportation to Florida

The mode of transportation to Florida was by plane.
This trip was also for my older sister's birthday, so
I was able to take advantage of the holiday leave system and leave work two hours early, heading straight to the airport after work!
It was a huge relief because traveling on a Saturday would have meant less time for sightseeing and the airfare would have been incredibly expensive.

After work, I took the GO bus from a bus stop near my accommodation to the airport.
The GO bus fare was $9.45 (approximately 1,060 yen), and the journey to the airport took about an hour.

Of course, I boarded the bus feeling excited, wondering what I would do tomorrow, but trouble struck early in the trip...
Well, I had a feeling something like this might happen, but we got caught in traffic and were delayed by more than 30 minutes, and somehow we finally arrived at the airport two hours before takeoff.

I had booked my Air Canada direct flight in advance, and the round trip cost around 130,000 yen. (The return flight was a bit pricey because I chose a midday flight...)
When entering the United States from Canada, immigration procedures are handled on the Canadian side, but
since I had already completed online check-in and Mobile Passport Control (pre-customs declaration), I was able to complete the departure procedures in less than 30 minutes!

I relaxed in the departure lobby and waited patiently at the gate when it was time to board, but then a second problem occurred...
As the flight time approached, boarding didn't progress at all, and the scheduled takeoff time arrived.
Of course, we couldn't depart on time, but we finally departed about 30 minutes late.
Around 1:00 AM, amidst the crowded airport on a weekend, I managed to meet up with my family and went to sleep to prepare for sightseeing the next day.

Walt Disney World - Highlights

Walt Disney World Resort (WDW) is the world's largest theme park resort, located in Orlando, Florida, USA, and consists of four theme parks and two water parks

• Magic Kingdom Park (a park that expands the fantasy and classic Disney world)
• Epcot (a park where you can enjoy futuristic technology and world cultures and cuisine)
• Disney's Hollywood Studios (a park where you can experience the world of movies)
• Disney's Animal Kingdom (a park themed around nature and animals)
• Disney's Blizzard Beach (a water park themed after snow-covered mountains and ski resorts)
• Disney's Typhoon Lagoon (a water park with wave pools and inspired by tropical islands)

Of all the things I experienced on this trip, the most memorable were the Star Wars area at Disney's Hollywood Studios and the limited-time Halloween event!

The Star Wars area opened on August 29, 2019,
and you can ride the thrilling Millennium Falcon. Unfortunately, I can't post photos, but the zone with the Stormtroopers lined up was absolutely breathtaking!!!

Another thing we did was, since we were visiting in the fall,
we went to "Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party," which is held every year at Magic Kingdom Park!
The character greetings and parade with the characters in their Halloween costumes were fantastic, but
the amount of candy we received during trick-or-treating, one of the main events, was unbelievable, and it became quite a struggle towards the end...

▼ Results (Even though they barely eat...)

Universal Epic Universe - Highlights

Universal Epic Universe is a theme park that just grand opened on May 22, 2025, at Universal Orlando Resort, and is comprised of the following five themes:

Celestial Park
, Super Nintendo World
, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic
Isle of Burke
, Dark Universe

My main reason for visiting was undoubtedly
the latest Harry Potter area, which recreates the streets of 1920s Paris and the Ministry of Magic from the movie "Fantastic Beasts."
While the main ride attraction, "Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry," was a great attraction that overwhelmed me with its immersive experience and scale, my personal favorite was the show "Le Cic Arcanus"! It's a
circus-themed show featuring magical creatures from Fantastic Beasts, but the
highlight was definitely the scene that recreated Newt's trunk. Newt
's trunk is a protective environment for magical creatures enchanted with an undetectable magnification spell, and the level of detail in its recreation and the way the scenes transitioned were impressive.

Meals during travel

For most of our trip, we used the dining plan at the Disney hotel, so
we mainly used restaurants where we could use the meal credits.
This time, we were able to get a great deal on a set meal thanks to a promotion, but the cost of living in America is higher than I imagined, so it was incredibly nice to be able to eat without worrying about the price 🍽
To give you an idea of ​​the price, a meal with a drink at a fast-food style restaurant was roughly 5,000-8,000 yen....Scary....

The food options were incredibly diverse, including American-style fast food and BBQ, as well as Asian cuisine, seafood, and dishes from various countries.
I ate so much during my trip, but I'd like to share some of my recommendations.
Both are restaurants located in Disney Springs, a Disney shopping mall, and they were so delicious that I ate at each place twice!

・Amorette's Patisserie
→ This shop sells many cakes featuring Disney characters. The designs are, of course, cute, but
the mousse cakes have multiple layers with different textures and were absolutely delicious 🌹

• Pepe by Jose Andres
→ A Spanish restaurant where you can easily enjoy authentic sandwiches and burgers made with cured ham.
I was surprised when the American-style burger patty came topped with cured ham...

summary

Thank you for reading to the end!
Looking at this, it might seem like I'm having a lot of fun, but rest assured I am working hard...🐤
As you can see, at Beyond, we offer the opportunity to go on a 3-month business trip to Canada for our infrastructure projects, so
if you're interested, please apply!

▼ Beyond Japan Inc. - Recruitment Site
https://recruit.beyondjapan.com/
▼ If you are interested in our Canadian training program, please also check this out:
https://beyondjapan.com/info/20220628-gta/