I am not going to try to tell you everything about Florida; it is just too much to cover. I am instead going to offer some advice; I have been to the state five times so should be in a decent position to give you all some helpful advice to aide you if you are ever over there.
We will start with getting there; almost everybody will fly in through either Orlando International Airport or Orlando Sanford Airport. You will probably have very little choice in this but I will give you a few tips anyhow.
Orlando International Airport is a big airport; it takes in flights from all across the US and the World. The facilities are fantastic and you could easily spend several hours shopping if that takes your fancy, remember though, prices will be cheaper on the outside just like any other airport. You will probably have to travel around the airport quite a bit and the best form of transport is the automatic train that runs a two-minute journey between terminals. It does not have drivers and only one train per track (with two tracks) but do not worry as the safety measures mean it is unlikely to go on a rampage. The average holiday maker will also have to get a bus out to the rental car centre, these are signed quite clearly once you collect your luggage and there will almost always be some kind of travel agency representative around to answer your problems.
Sanford Airport is much smaller and lives off British Charters; the occasional scheduled American Airline and millions of Cessna's. Not great for casual plane-spotters like myself but everyone else loves it because it is the most efficient place in the world. You get off the plane and walk along a corridor to the immigration room; you will be given help filling in the relevant forms on the plane (be careful, mess it up and spend hours queuing up again after you correct the problem.) Then you go through customs with your baggage that is already there. 100 yards later, you are in the car rental area and are leaving.
Next, I will talk about location of where you are staying. We will start off by saying you are in Florida, an American state with Capital Tallahassee. It is the piece of land that sticks out at the bottom right hand side of the USA. Most people will spend time in one of the following locations.
1. Kissimmee This is a long strip located near the Disney World complex. It is quite typical Americana and is full of motels, hotels, and shops. It is slightly more out of the way than I-Drive is, so is ideal for anybody looking for cheaper accommodation. When we first went to Florida several years ago, it was a bit of a dump and was not great for the average tourist. It was very car-orientated, we got up every morning and drove across the six-lane highway for breakfast, we drove to the shop next door for some general stuff, we drove everywhere! Since then, it has undergone a massive program that has seen the installation of footpaths, streetlights, and even a few pedestrian crossings. If you are based in Kissimmee, make sure you go to the air-conditioned flea market, it is nice for a few hours. Do not go near the one without air-con as it is very uncomfortable and has no different range of shops. The best feature of the are is the Old Town area. Make sure you visit, the best time being Saturday night to see a large gathering of locals with their immaculately turned out classic cars.
2. International Drive If you are in the Orlando metro area (i.e. near all the theme parks.) the chances are you will be in Kissimmee of International Drive. I-Drive is also just a long strip but has been designed with tourists in mind more than Kissimmee. There are pedestrian crossings round every corner and full footpaths all the way along. It runs parallel to the I-4 (big motorway thing, more about it later) and very close to the Anheuser Busch parks. From our hotel, we had to cross a four lane road to Wet 'N Wild, drive 10 minutes to the Universal Studios complex and driver twenty minutes to Seaworld. This is not uncommon as it is quite tightly packed together for maximum ease for tourists.
The previous two locations have been in the middle and a lot of people will spend their whole holiday there but I strongly recommend you take a day trip to one of the coasts or have a two-centred holiday. This will see you going to any of the four compass points.
North - not many people do this because there is nothing to do but if you like going local away from the beaten track and tourists, go north.
East - this is towards the Kennedy Space Centre (a great day out), Cocoa Beach (great for surfers), and many other cities.
South - this brings you to Miami and the Everglades. If you want to see the everglades, you will have to travel, it is possible to do some around Orlando, but the real thing is better and worth the extra cost/time.
West - this will bring you towards Tampa, Clearwater, and St. Petersburg. We have been to Clearwater four times now and as you might have guessed, loved it enough to keep returning. Clearwater is a very laid back city divided into two areas, Clearwater and Clearwater beaches. Anyone visiting will be probably be located on a strip of land connected to Belle Air by a bridge and Clearwater by a Causeway. You will always be within ten minutes walking of the beach and possibly on it. It is currently being overrun by condos but the construction work is not intensive and should not disturb your holiday. For example, we were overlooking a construction site this year and within the week, they had four guys wander around putting down sticks between the hours of 0800-1100 and 1500-1800. Not exactly likely to appear in Worst Holiday ever but you still may want to have a peek to check your hotel is not on a building site.
Finally in this section, I need to talk about driving - it is radically different from the UK so listen up. Obey the speed limits at all times, they are generally slower than the 70-mph limit in the UK; even on the interstates. In the last three years or so, average speed has increased among locals but speed limits are still generally obeyed. Off ramps (also known as exits and junctions) tend to surprise those who are new to the road system so you will probably want to find out what exit you take before you set off anywhere. Beware that from Sanford, there is one exit on the left-hand side (i.e. from the fastest lane) you may well be using this for I-Drive so look out. Why they did this was to confuse tourists. A general rule is to stick in the middle lane, under-taking is legal so do not be worried about staying in the middle to avoid being caught out by merging and turn right/left only lanes. To make life more interesting, the exit numbers have been all changed on the I-4 and not everyone has caught up (e.g. maps) so be wary and keep looking for signs.
Remember the little things as well, you will be driving a left-hand drive car that will have no clutch i.e. an automatic; so do not try a trick my great father did once and drive along then press the clutch at 60-mph. The clutch was AWOL and so the next best thing was the brake - D'oh! You can turn right on most red lights as long as you have came to a complete stop and checked the junction is clear to go, look out for pedestrians though and other cars.
Next, we have to talk about food and dining. I plan to give you a great big in-depth opinion on this so I will have to be brief. The food is lovely and you will not go hungry unless you eat at fast food restaurants. Remember to look for discount coupons as they can save you a mint, particularly in the big chain restaurants and anything on I-Drive. Tipping is customary and is about 10-20%; some restaurants add it on automatically so have a look at the menu to check.
The next thing I want to bore you about is shopping. To be honest, over here in N.Ireland, I couldn’t think of many things worse than shopping but like many things, it is much better in the US. In general, most things are cheaper but remember that will not always be the case.
• Sales tax will be added to all purchases at about 6-7%, this is only added at the point of sale (i.e. will not be included on the price tag) • Shop local for cheaper prices, tourists tend to get the rough end of the stick, as they are unfamiliar with expected prices • Learn the exchange rate before you arrive, as a rough rule, divide by three and multiply by two to get a Sterling price • Look out for discount books as they can save you money • Music CDs and video games are cheaper on the internet than in any shop I have seen • We operate a PAL system so any VHS bought will not work at home, also be careful with DVD purchases if you do not have a DVD player capable of playing discs from around the world • The US uses 110V mains compared to our 240V so any electrical product will require an adapter (which is prone to overheating if in constant use.) On this note, I got electrocuted from the mains twice in a minute last year, it was a shock (pardon the pun) but I lived. • It is a lot of hassle to get a refund once you have returned so be careful when buying expensive products. On a positive note, it is a lot more fun going on a two-week holiday to get a replacement toaster rather than popping down to the local Argos store.
Almost all shopping is done in massive malls, some of these can be very empty (apart from the food court), particularly the ones outside of the Orlando tourist region. Some good shopping malls include the Florida Mall (from I-Drive, go North on Sand Lake Road) and the air-conditioned flea market in Kissimmee (near old town.) The Tampa Bay Area has the delights of the Countryside Mall and a wide selection of large shops, look out for a Target Store inland from Belle Air, it is massive and has everything at very low prices. If you want, you can even venture into Tampa to the Westshore Plaza. Unfortunately, the Clearwater Mall has now closed which was disappointing as they offered a power walking club around the mall (the mall is cool and very empty) and this was quite amusing to watch.
Well, I am sure you all don't go over to the US to shop and travel so I might as well tell you about the other stuff such as Theme Parks. There are two massive corporations that operate the main theme parks in Orlando; Anheuser Busch and Disney.
Disney Disney own a plot of land so big that they have their own monorail system, road infrastructure and police department. They have several big parks such as Magic Kingdom, MGM Studios, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Typhoon Lagoon, and others. You can opt to stay on the Disney site at an extra cost although it does have benefits. The best Disney park in my opinion is Epcot; the others are good and represent a stereotypical image of a Florida holiday but are aimed at a much younger audience. By all means visit all the parks with a Hopper ticket (all parks for a week etc…) or just select a couple. It would be a waste of time to ramble through detailed descriptions of each park when they are easily available here on ciao so I won't bother and keep the word count reasonable.
Anheuser Busch The main (and only) competitor to Disney is the mighty Anheuser Busch corporation. They own half of American business from the theme parks (Seaworld, Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Busch Gardens, Wet 'N Wild) to breweries such as Budweiser. If you care more, have a look around a business website and prepare to be amazed at the number of companies they own. We have always got a two-week flexi-ticket giving us access to all the parks named above so we can visit at our leisure. In past years, it was much cheaper to buy these tickets through an independent dealer but now, it is just as cheap to buy at the gate. If you are planning to do this, go in the late evening to avoid some large queues. It is only around fifteen minutes away from I-Drive and parking is free after 6PM so there is no excuse. Another option is to look around and get $100 off a flexi-ticket in exchange for a two-hour meeting where somebody will try to sell you a timeshare scheme. According to a salesperson, nobody ever buys anything and you get a free continental breakfast so it is worth it if you can be bothered. We couldn't!
The downturn in the US economy and especially the aftermath of September 11th, the parks are relatively empty. This has obvious benefits such as less queuing but it has almost meant both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure are closing earlier every day (2000 and 21000 respectively) and both have cut their spectacular fireworks display.
Avoiding the Queues This used to be a massive problem inside the parks with 2-hour queues being ordinary but now, it is much different. Our maximum queue was a mere 15 minutes and even then, it was waiting for a show to start (starts every 20 minutes.)
• Wherever possible, travel as a single rider, it will mean you will walk straight onto the ride but will be split up from the rest of your party. This does not really matter as most people can cope with being separated for two minutes to save half an hour in a queue. Only travel as a party if you have small children or want a group photo. • If you want to be together, pick the most popular rides (look at the times) and get a fast-pass. This will allow you to turn up at a late time and go straight to the front of the queue. • Most outdoor attractions close down during inclement weather so plan to ride coasters in the morning or late evening when it is less likely to have rain and more importantly, lightning. • The park will be emptier early in the morning and late in the evening so consider having a siesta, it will also cool you down. • Pick up a map and start at the back of the park, everyone else walks in and goes into the first ride first causing larger queues. • A 15 minute queue will usually seem like 5 minutes as you spend a lot of time walking, the queues are usually well decorated with props and scenery. • The first thing to do when you get in the park has to be to get a show schedule (sometimes on the back of the map.) Take a seat and plan what shows you will see and when, some parks such as Seaworld will require very careful planning to fit in all the shows and maybe an extra few hours another day. • When you leave a show, do not try to visit any attractions near the theatre/arena, 2000 others will be doing the same. The best time to ride a ride near the showplace is when the show is just about to start.
Other General Stuff
- Whenever you are outside for any length of time between 0900-1800, cover up your skin with long clothes or sun-cream. Whether this is at a theme park, hotel pool, or beach, you can and will get burnt without it. Always start off with a higher factor of sun-cream as very few people will be tanned enough to cope with the strong sun experienced. - Rain can be extremely heavy but should only last for an hour or so. You will always want to get under cover as soon as possible and stay there. If you are driving, particularly for the first time, you may want to find somewhere to stop for a few minutes or at least slow down. Remember also, wipes on, lights on. - If sport is your thing, you are blessed with piles of it. Basketball is represented by the Orlando Magic, American Football by the improving Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Miami Dolphins, Ice Hockey by the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning and Baseball by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. - The home of Tampa Bay Lightning, the Ice Palace is the centre of Tampa is also used for concerts occasionally so you may want to look at schedules to see if anything takes your fancy. - In the advantages section, I have mentioned cheap and this is true, the main costs come from the flight over to Orlando. The other main reason for high costs is the sheer number of things you do compared to daily life.
Hope this has helped you in planning a trip to Florida, I could have written so much more but have limited my ramblings to keep you awake. Thanks for reading, Chris.
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