Orlando

Author's product rating:   

Advantages:	Disney, Sunny, Nice people
Disadvantages:	Heat (sometimes)

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Ok, I decided to update my review of Orlando as I have just come back from there and thought I could give better, up-to-date information. Included in the update you will find a more extensive review of theme parks and some more practical information.

So, I have been to Florida two times now and most of this review talks about my first experience. However, I will input some relevant stuff from the second. I really did enjoy this holiday and it is a dream destination. I must say however that I know it isn’t for everyone and that I have spoken to people that didn’t really like the place. So, if you do go to Orlando, remember there is no secret brainwashing place you go to when you arrive that makes you like the place (well, I don’t think there is) so beware you could spend a whole lot of money and not enjoy it. Personally, I believe that would only apply to a minority of people.

Anyway, here are, to start, some basic facts about Orlando and Florida to get you acquainted with the place:

· It is home to 1.5 million inhabitants (Orlando) and 40 million tourists visit it each year.
· The average temperature between October to May is low 70s (22 to all of us!) to mid 80s (27) and between May to September the average temperature is from upper 80s (27) to mid 90s (32).
· It is five hours behind GMT.
· There are over 125 golf courses situated in the area.
· It is home to Orlando Magic who are a basketball team.
· Home to 39 million square feet of shopping malls!

These facts and figures are just a mere scrape on the surface of the real Orlando. Furthermore I would say that if you go in July or August, I would expect the temperature to get closer to somewhere around 34 or 35 degrees, which as you could imagine is very hot. When I went in this past summer (2004) the temperatures were just as high. However you must be wary of something called the heat factor, which basically tells you how hot it feels. It could be 94°F but it will in reality feel like 100°F. This is a slight disadvantage of the place as all the heat is exhausting when trailing around the theme parks. The best way to beat it though is plenty of sun tan lotion and taking in lots of fluids so you don’t become dehydrated. Another thing on the subject of the weather is that it is a tropical climate! This means that there will almost certainly, during the summer months be rainfall each day. Not only that but you will see some wonderful thunderstorms there too! They come at about 4 in the afternoon and never last long. After a couple of hours, everywhere is dry. In fact one tip could be to plan your meal times around the rain so you don’t get soaked and that way when it goes off you can make most of dry weather. The reason I mention the weather is that many people are not aware of the rain in Florida, after all why would it rain? It is called the ‘Sunshine State!’

When I went to Florida, we booked our holiday with the company ‘My Travel’ and they were efficient, although very expensive! We booked for 14 nights at a hotel called the ‘Ramada Inn.’ Ramada are a little like ‘Best Western’ and ‘Campanile’ as they have several different hotels under same name and brand. The hotel was just situated off Highway 192 and about an hour and a half drive from Sanford airport and probably half an hour or so from Orlando International Airport. Through My Travel we also bought our flights, which were expensive but more of which later. We also bought our park tickets from them, again more of which later! So all in all, we were pretty much ripped off! We have booked again this time to go but in a villa of a friend of a friend! We have done it a lot cheaper; although sometimes I think Orlando is one of those places that you go to expensively the first time then learn the best ways to reduce the cost when you are there!

This time as I said we booked all of the stuff separately, it is kind of a hybrid holiday! We booked our flights with Travel City Direct. Now a good tip is to use them, as they are extremely efficient and cheaper than many others. The flights both outward and inbound were very good and I would highly recommend Travel City. Travel City offer a great deal whereby your in-flight drinks are free and you have a 32” pitch on the plane, for a little bit of extra leg room. Furthermore, all of the seats are now leather. All of those features come at no extra cost and you will fly on a Boeing 747 Jumbo jet. We also booked into a villa instead of a hotel this time. We have got our villa for £500 per week and this is quite cheap. I would say you could get a decent one that sleeps 8 people for about £500 to £650 per week. The best place to look for these villas is on the Internet. I will talk about tickets and other costs later, just talking about getting there and where to stay for now!

As for the flight the first time I went, well the journey there was great because we had a stroke of luck! We, for some reason, got a free upgrade into the business class bit of the plane, it was superb. I have a feeling it must have been because they had space available and it was actually my birthday on the day we travelled. Either way it was extremely comfortable. I would say the flight lasts about 8 hours maybe a little longer. Although with the array of in-flight entertainment and a good book the time passes quite quickly! Plus it is well worth the wait when you get there! The journey back however, just added credence to the pleasure-pain theory, as it was absolutely terrible! We got delayed because our plane was knackered, then we got on another one, which I’m sure was not built for transatlantic flights! It was small and the in-flight entertainment was broke. It truly was terrible but we’d had a great holiday so we overlook that when we reminisce about our travels!

We flew into Sanford airport from Manchester airport here in the UK. Sanford is a strange little place. It is an old air force base if I remember rightly and has now been made into a little airport. Important information: when you are on the plane you will be given a form to fill in. This form needs to be correct in order for you to get through passport control. Make sure you fill it in on the plane and take care to do it right. The Americans take no prisoners and will just send you to the back of the queue again to do it right. You could be there for a while if you fail to do this properly. The staff were not the most amiable of people to say the least and so I highly recommend you get the form right! You will have to queue (they start straight away!) also to collect your car. Now car rental in my opinion is essential to get the most out of the holiday. However it can be done without. The best company for car rental is probably Dollar, although there are others. Make sure you have all correct ID with you too when you are there. In order to get to your hotel, I would recommend heading towards the I4 and heading west on that. Things like International Drive will be signposted from there on. However, essentially your best bet if you do hire a car is to go to WHSmith or Borders or somewhere like that and buy a map so you can plan yourself. Also if you book with travel city direct, they in fact give you a map, which although isn’t ideal you can get by on it. Also sorry I can't give any information in Orlando International Airport as I haven't been there but you will still need that form to be filled in right!

Ok, so the hotel itself we stayed in last time was shall we say adequate. The room wasn’t spectacular and was pretty ordinary. There were all the basic facilities you would need including cable television for those rainy afternoons! The hotel had two swimming pools, a games room and outdoor tennis courts, so as I say it was adequate although not exactly paradise. That said we didn’t spend much time there so it made no difference. The rest of the hotels on the 192 seemed pretty much like the one we stayed in. By the way, I never explained before but there are two main tourist areas to stay in really in Orlando, which are on the 192 or on International Drive. There is a plethora of different hotels to choose from so you will have no problem finding a hotel in Florida. If you intend to go to a lot of parks, do not pick a very expensive one, simply because you wont spend enough time there for it to matter! However, from my experience of talking to different people, it seems to me that the best accommodation is a villa. Furthermore after the second holiday I can most definitely say the villa option is best. Make sure before you go, you know where the nearest Wal-Mart is and from there you can buy pretty much anything so you can buy plenty of food, which does seriously reduce the cost also, try to go a bit further afield, away from tourist areas when you buy things. For example, one night we went to buy camera film from a Walgreens on the 192 and it cost $18.99 but by our villa which wasn’t as tourist orientated, they cost $13.99!

As for the food and drink, most people will not have a problem finding somewhere to eat! One of the best, yet most unhealthy, things about the US is it’s food and vast range of different places to eat. For breakfast, many different places do an all-you-can-eat buffet. These are great but we found that the novelty wore off after a week or so. However they are cheap and you really can eat a lot. It is better as you don’t really need a big lunch then, as you will be full of food from breakfast still! The breakfasts contain all sweet stuff like pastries, muffins, doughnuts and fruit. Then they also have a big cooked breakfast on offer too with everything you could imagine on it- including corned beef hash! If you don’t fancy an all you can eat buffet then I would recommend going to the seven-eleven. These are well known and rightly so because they are absolutely superb. You can get massive cups of coffee, tea or hot chocolate and they sell like all the pastries and big massive, iced ring doughnuts. This is a cheaper option although of course you have to get a lunch later on. If you intend staying in a villa then your best port of call may still be the seven-eleven or the infamous Wal-Mart where you can buy stuff to utilise the kitchen facilities you have in the villa. As for lunch times, you will probably be best to either get food in the park although I must warn you that this can be quite expensive. The other option is again a trip to Wal-Mart and buy your own stuff. We bought a cooler bag from Wal-Mart on the first day and from then on we took our own food for lunch in the park. All the parks have great locker facilities so storage will not be a problem. In the evening, again your best ports of call are restaurants. There are many around, not just in the parks but all along international drive and the 192. The best ones are probably TGI Fridays, Ponderosa, Angels (although that is expensive), Wendy’s (although this is not expensive it is a little like McDonalds but the food is much nicer!) and Sizzler. They mostly do stuff like steaks and in fact they do not really cater much for vegetarians in America. My mum is a vegetarian and she had some real problems sometimes. This time we found another gem called Cici’s Pizza, which did an all you can eat Pizza buffet for $3.99. Great value!

In the actual parks themselves, there are restaurants inside and there are set areas for eating. At Disney, there is Downtown Disney, which is full of places to eat like Planet Hollywood. There are also many shops there too like an all year Christmas shop! As for the Universal Parks, there is City Walks, which has also many different places to eat like NBA City (which is expensive but food is fantastic!) and Hard Rock Café (which is marginally better than NBA city!)

As for the theme parks, well there are many of them! The main ones are Disney (four parks and 2 waterparks), Universal (2 parks), Busch Gardens and Sea World. Before I review the actual parks, just a quick word on the price. You can buy from most places a ticket called the Orlando Flexticket, which allows you access to Universal Studios, Universal’s Islands of Adventure, Busch Gardens, Sea World and Wet and Wild. This ticket is available from most tour operators for £145 and lasts for 14 days from first use. However, if you book your flights with Travel City, they will sell you the ticket for £119 so it is definitely worth using them for this service! As for Disney, this is a lot more expensive. For a five-day park hopper plus ticket, which allows you access to all four Disney parks plus special access to two other Disney areas of your choice (including two water parks and DisneyQuest). However this costs £145 and that’s as cheap as you will find it with anyone, unless you go to www.wdisneyw.com. There you will find the tickets for cheaper. This is a highly recommended website to save you lots of money!

The parks:

· Disney’s Magic Kingdom: this is the main attraction and probably the place people associate most with Florida. This is a great park although it is rather large and definitely needs a full day to look round! The main rides include Dumbo, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear. They also have a new 4-D experience there this year that was superb called Philamagic. This is a great park and an essential in my opinion, certainly the first time you go to Florida. They have improved this one drastically and this has become one of my favourites. The new firework display is quite simply awesome. Rating: 10/10

· Disney’s MGM studios: this is not a massive park although there is plenty to do here. The main attractions are the Tower of Terror, which is now completely revamped and changed and much better and the Rock and Roller Coaster, which is very fast and a nice roller coaster. There are also some good shows here like Indiana Jones and Fantasia (which is a must see). All in all this is a good day and a good park. Rating: 8/10

· Disney’s Animal Kingdom: I really expected to dislike this park when I went to it however I was very wrong! This is a really good park and the Kilimanjaro safari is of particular note. There is also a great river rapids ride here. Animal Kingdom is superb for kids as the park isn’t massive and there is plenty to keep them occupied! You must also check out the shows Tarzan Rocks and the Festival of the Lion King. Rating 8/10

· Disney’s Epcot: This park is somewhat underrated in my opinion. It is a fun park although there are not so many rides here. The two most notable rides are Test Track and the new one Mission: Space (which is fantastic). The biggest feature of Epcot is the way it is split into different places and it is like going to a different place each time. Also all the staff actually come from the place they work in! We went back to Epcot again this time and it was far better and one of the best Disney parks. Rating: 8/10

· Universal Studios: This too is a well-known place that boasts some great attractions. It includes the new Shrek 4-D, Jaws, Back to the Future and the awesome Terminator 4:3D. This is a great park although it is quite big and for those adrenaline junkies there are no roller coasters. Nevertheless it is a great day out. However, Universal have spoiled their parks with the new Universal Express pass. Rating 8.5/10

· Universal’s Islands of Adventure: this is one of my favourite places in Florida. It boasts some of the best rides including the Incredible Hulk Coaster and the Duelling Dragons. Also here you will find Spiderman and Dudley Doo-Right’s Ripsaw falls, which is excellent. This is a great park and it is not too big so it isn’t as tiring a day as some of the other parks. Similarly they too have adopted Universal express and spoiled themselves. Rating: 9.5/10

· Sea World: this is of course home to the famous Shamu show, which involves the Killer Whales. Furthermore, there are two great rides called Journey to Atlantis and the awesome coaster Kraken. All the animals are great to see and there is so much to see in this park. You may even be lucky enough to stroke a dolphin (or get completely soaked by one in my case!) This is one of Florida’s best parks. Also if you do go check out Clyde and Seamore’s Show, as it is pretty damned funny! They now have a new nighttime show, which is better than the day one and just as funny! Rating: 9/10

· Busch Gardens: this was indeed my favourite park, mostly as I love the big rides and it boasts the two best in Florida. Firstly Kumba, which is amazing and then Montu, which is slightly better! There are also lots of animals in Busch Gardens and other smaller rides too. All in all this offers a loot and delivers in my opinion! Rating: 10/10

I have unfortunately not been to Wet and Wild so I cannot comment on how good or bad it is although I am led to believe it is quite good. Also worth a try is Disney’s Blizzard Beach, which is excellent and boasts one of the biggest water slides in the world. Just a quick word on all the parks is that they all provide reasonably priced locker storage facilities that are useful especially for the big rides where it isn’t practical to carry things on.

When I was on holiday, I decided that when I updated this review, I would include Theme Park awards in order to give you an indication of what is hot and what is not!

Best rollercoaster: Montu (Busch Gardens) This ride is quite simply incredible and reaches speeds in excess of 60 Mph. It was voted one of the top 10 roller coasters in the US and you only have to go on it to discover why. Honourable mentions: Kumba (Busch gardens), Duelling Dragons (Islands of Adventure) and Hulk (Islands of Adventure)

Best New Attraction: Mission Space (Disney’s Epcot) Mission Space is possibly one of the best experiences you can have in any of the Floridian theme parks. It simulates a Shuttle launch, complete with small cockpit et al. This is not for the faint hearted and you are particularly dizzy when you come off it. When the launch occurs it is such a weird feeling and you can feel the G-forces on your face and the skin being pulled back! Honourable mentions: Shrek 4-D (Universal Studios), Revenge of the Mummy (Universal Studios) and Philamagic (Disney’s Magic Kingdom).

Best Water Ride: Dudley Do-Right (Islands of Adventure) This is one classy ride and you do literally get soaked! You can wring your clothes out it is that bad and the drop is fast and steep too. Cracking ride and an essential for anybody! Honourable mentions: Journey to Atlantis (Sea World), Tidal Wave (Busch Gardens) and Splash Mountain (Disney’s Magic Kingdom).

Worst Attraction: Primeval Whirl (Disney’s Animal Kingdom) whoever designed this ride must seriously have a screw loose because never before have I been injured by a ride but this one managed to do it! Everyone I know who has been on this ride gets injured by it- a big waste of time! (Not so) Honourable mentions: Back to the Future (Universal Studios), Poseidon’s Fury (Islands of Adventure) and Wild Arctic (Sea World)

Hidden Gem: Jimmy Neutron (Universal Studios) this is a new ride that replaced the Hannah Barbera ride. It is a simulator but better than most of its type as it runs smoothly. The video with it is very funny as well. Do not miss out on this ride, especially those of you with children! Honourable mentions: Twister (Universal Studios), Great Movie Ride (Disney’s MGM Studios) and Who Wants to be a Millionaire Play It! (Disney’s MGM Studios)

Best Special effects orientated display: Wishes (Disney’s Magic Kingdom) this is the brand-new firework display at Magic Kingdom and quite simply the best firework display I have seen. It is superbly choreographed with music and a joy to watch. Honourable mentions: Fantasia (Disney’s MGM studios), Illuminations (Disney’s Epcot) and Fireworks at Universal Studios. One to avoid, Mistify at Sea World (this is quite simply awful)

As for shopping, there are several places that are very useful for shopping, including Belz Outlet Store and Florida Mall. Also as I mentioned before Wal-Mart is excellent too. It is estimated that prices in Florida are about 30% cheaper than over here so it is worth taking plenty of spare money and doing plenty of shopping. Things like trainers are much cheaper there. Although I have to say that this time I thought the prices were higher than last time. Particularly where DVDs are concerned as I have a multi region player and was disappointed to find that the US prices are pretty much the same as here.

Well I can’t really think of much else I can include, if I do I will definitely update this review so keep tuned for more updates! I have to say that overall Orlando is a great family holiday destination. That said, anyone can enjoy it there I think. This is a place that everyone should try at least once in their lifetime, just to see what they think!

Thanks for reading!