Florida fun
If you're looking for fun, Orlando really has it all! Disney World, Universal Studios, Kennedy Space Centre, SeaWorld, Legoland and more!! We spent 9 nights here, but we could have spent a lot longer! Orlando is quite spread out so I would definitely recommend hiring a car as we did. We stayed at the Sheraton Villas on International drive. It's a huge resort with many facilities including swimming pools, restaurant, tennis courts etc. Our 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom suite was huge with a full kitchen and lounge room. We were only a minutes drive to local shops, 10 mins from Disney and 15mins from Universal.
We spent 2 days at Disney, we spent each day at 2 parks. It is a LOT of walking, the parks are HUGE! There are shuttle buses between the parks. It was a lot of fun, especially for little kids, but mine definitely preferred Universal which caters for older kids. We spent 4 days at Universal, which is 3 parks in total. Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and Volcano Bay(waterpark). Getting a pass before you arrive is definitely recommended, as the line can be long and slow. If you choose the hopper pass you can go between the parks in a day, good idea for all those Harry Potter fans as you can catch the Hogwarts Express train from Kings Cross(Universal Studios) to Hogsmeade(Island of Adventure). Harry Potter fans will truly be in heaven at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. You really feel like you're in Diagon Alley. The attention to detail is FANTASTIC! I'm not a huge fan(although my kids are), but I was blown away! They have all the shops from the books including Ollivanders wand shop, floor to ceiling covered in wands! These wands are interactive throughout the parks, so the kids can cast spells with their wands, it's pretty amazing. Of course there are all sorts of rides to go on from huge rollercoasters to 3D rides and everything in between. My favourite was the E.T ride and Hagrids motorbike ride, so much fun! We also went to Volanco Bay which is a waterpark with every kind of ride and water experience you can think of and then some. With sooooooo many rides to choose from, it caters to those that would like to lie by the ‘beach’ or float down the lazy river to those that prefer hair raising water slides and water rapids. It was the best water park we’ve been to!
A trip to Orlando wouldn’t be complete without a trip to The Kennedy Space Centre. It’s a good 90minute drive each way, but it’s worth it. We thought we might just have a couple of hours here, but we didn’t leave until closing time! We met with a real astronaut and heard about his travels to space. There are plenty of interactive activities for young and old. A highlight is the bus tour around the launch pads and visiting the Saturn V, which is HUGE!
Something else that Orlando is famous for is the shopping! Loads of outlet malls with all the big brands including Nike, Adidas, Puma, Tommy Hilfiger, Kate Spade, Ralph Lauren and Gap just to name a few. Lots of choice and it is SUPER cheap, so, so cheap, I’d definitely recommend taking an empty suitcase with you so you can fill it up ?? We had such a fun time in Orlando with fabulous weather. We stayed in September/October which was still very hot, but it wasn’t too crowded everywhere. September to November is also when they have Halloween nights at Disney World and Universal, everyone gets dressed up. Disney is for families with little kids, whilst the Halloween nights at Universal is recommended for ages 13+.