Practical travel trips for Americans going to #D2LFusion 2024
My previous post was a good start , but here's a few things you should know before you go.
Hotels: Most people are staying at the Fairmont Royal York. It's old, it's iconic, it's magnificent. Many others are staying at the InterContinental Hotel. Very, very nice. Some people are staying at the Delta Hotel. I haven't been there, so I have no comments or suggestions.
The Royal York is very special. Hotel construction was completed 95 years ago, so expect old-style elegance, not Hampton Inn chic. Three restaurants: Reign Restaurant + Bar + Bakery, Clockwork Champagne & Cocktails, and the Library Bar are all very nice, pricey, and stylish.
Money: If you use debit/credit cards for everything, then you should have mostly the same experience in Canada as in the States. Read further if you sometimes use currency instead of cards.
They will take your US dollars in Canada, but strangely enough, Canadian dollars are preferred in Canada. You can exchange currency at the airport or at ATMs, but you'll get killed with the conversion rates. Those are profit deals. I recommend that you exchange USD for CAD at your local bank before you leave the states. Call ahead to see if they have it on hand. Most banks can get CAD in a day if they don't have it. My bank always has CAD on hand, but I'm only a few hours from the Canadian border (in the summers).
Currently a Canadian dollar is worth 73 cents US. Therefore, one USD is worth $1.37 CAD. If you're buying a $9 beer, it's more like a $6.57 beer. It's not just you, that'll be true when I buy them too.
Canadian bills are very colorful, putting U.S. currency to shame. The Loonie is the one dollar coin and the Toonie is the two dollar coin. They also uses nickels, dimes, and quarters, but they started eliminating the penny in 2013. All transactions are rounded off.
Metric: I used to run 10K races so I've known for most of my life that one kilometer is equal to (approx.) 6/10 of a mile. 5 kilometers equals 3.1 miles. 10K = 6.2 miles.
If the highway speed limit is 90 KPH (kilometers per hour), it's equivalent to a snail's pace of 56 MPH.
If you see a measurement in meters, add about 10% to change it to yards. For example, the Fairmont Royal York hotel is about 400 meters away from the convention center. So it's about 440 yards, or the length of one lap around the inside lane at your local high school track. It's basically the same distance (but in the other direction) to get the to Tuesday Evening Event at the Hockey Hall of Fame .
People and Diversity: Although a massive country in size, Canada's population is only about 39 million, or less than 12% of the population of the USA. Canada is a very diverse country. Toronto has a population of about 2.8 million within the city limits, making it slightly larger than Chicago, and the third largest city in North America. There are about 6.4 million people in the Toronto metro area, which puts it about on a par with Atlanta (Chicago metro is over 9M).
People call the USA a melting pot, but it pales in comparison to our northern neighbors. That diversity shows itself in many ways: ethnic or cultural origins (where their ancestors are from), religions, and racial groups. According to the 2020 General Social Survey , 92.0% of the population aged 15 and older agreed that ethnic or cultural diversity is a Canadian value.
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A few stats:
Shopping: Do you ever get to a conference and find you need to grab something quick at a local store? In my experience, that usually means a Walgreens or CVS which can typically be found within walking distance of the conference (not including Orlando). You won't find those around the Fairmont Royal York hotel in Toronto. What you will find are multiple locations within a couple blocks of both Shoppers Drug Mart and Rexall Drugs. Check your favorite map app and take a hike.
Airport to Hotel: Flying into Pearson Airport? You have all the normal options to get to the hotels; Taxi, Uber, Lyft, Town Car, Bus, or walking (no don't). But, in my opinion, the best way by far is the UP train from the airport to Union Station. It's also the best way to get back to the airport when it's time to move on.
UP is the Union Pearson Express train. Here's some things to know about UP :
Walking: I have found the area around the hotels and Convention Center to be very walkable. A fair amount of traffic so I don't recommend jaywalking, but it's otherwise a pretty safe place to walk in. Normal precautions are still a pretty good idea. Earlier I mentioned that it is a short walk from the Fairmont to both the Convention Center and the Hockey Hall. However, people with mobility assistance needs will be able to use taxis and/or Ubers to the locations using chits available from D2L on site. I don't know the details, so ask at the conference registration desk.
Convention Center: the MTCC (Metro Toronto Convention center) is where you'll find all the Fusion action. Note: on Day 1, the Executive Summit takes place in the Intercontinental Hotel which is connected to MTCC.
We are using the north half of MTCC. You enter from Front Street which is the same street where you enter and exit the Royal York. Royal York is on the north side of the street and MTCC on the south. Of course there will be lots of D2L signage to ensure that you don't get lost (which would be hard to do).
Other posts of interest:
Hope to see you in the TO.
Multilingual Agile Instructional Designer | Project Manager | Educator | Co-Host of the HigherID Podcast | Entrepreneur
4 个月Great guidance! love all the tips! many thanks for sharing.
Lead Learning Technologist
4 个月One other thing - you'll likely run into stores closing at 9, but 6 on Sundays. That varies by store, but as a general rule, things close at 9, restaurants of course stay open later. There are very few 24 hour stores - outside of 7-11's or other variety/convenience stores.
Learning Innovator and Collaborator
4 个月How late do the trains run from the Airport?
Chief Online Learning Officer
4 个月Thank you for these helpful details.