Safety First
Safety in Florida is a matter of common sense and a few basic rules.
Make sure you have adequate insurance, if the worst happens and you fall ill or have an accident whilst you are on holiday, it will be very expensive to be in hospital a...
Viewed 3941 times since 7 August 2011.
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Lunch at Celebration
No holiday at our villa is ever complete without at least one visit to Celebration. For us it is just a couple of miles along the 192 but if you are approaching from the I4 west you get off at Exit 64 onto the 192 east and at the third set of traffic...
Viewed 4298 times since 12 April 2011.
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Some excellent places to eat in the Orlando area
Here are some of my favourite places to eat in the Orlando area.
Romano’s Macaroni Grill
This was recommended to us by a family who stayed at our villa. We had driven past it on many occasions but didn’t think it looked very exciting...
Viewed 4337 times since 2 January 2011.
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How to survive the parks
I am often asked by guests if I have any advice on how to go about visiting the parks and getting the best out of them. I am well aware that some of you will have to visit during the school holidays which will always be the busiest time. So here is m...
Viewed 5134 times since 21 January 2010.
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Walt Disney World Florida – General Tips
Try and remember to write down where you have parked your car! If you do lose it, then return to the poles (where you got of the tram) and flag down one of the Disney security vans and they will assist you, they will also help if your car wo...
Viewed 5349 times since 1 September 2008.
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New Baby Mandrill at Animal Kingdom
Animal Kingdom is one of my favourite parks, so it is always interesting to hear of the birth of new babies. In June of 2011, a new male baby mandrill was born to a first time mother, Kelley, after six and a half months of waiting.
Mandri...
Viewed 3675 times since 18 January 2013.
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Prime Outlets
Prime Outlets Fancy a day of shopping where you don’t really have to shop until you drop, as all the stores are in easy walking distance? Then take a trip to Prime Outlets at the end of International Drive. Driving there is easy, just take I-4...
Viewed 5951 times since 3 August 2009.
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Discovery Island - Animal Kingdom
Discovery Island is the central part of Disney's Animal Kingdom rather like Magic Kingdom's Main Street. From the Discovery Island section, the other parts branch off, from left to right: Camp Minnie-Mickey, Africa, Rafiki's Planet Watch, Asia, and D...
Viewed 5026 times since 1 September 2008.
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Review of Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
Review of Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
This ride is situated in Hogwart’s Castle, which is at the far end of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter within the Universal Islands of Adventure theme park.
You enter through ...
Viewed 4260 times since 24 December 2012.
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Animal Kingdom - What's New
Animal Kingdom is one of the newest, comparatively, of the Disney theme parks within Walt Disney World and is about to undergo a massive change with a new Avatar based land.
Construction of the new “Pandora: The World of Avatar” land ...
Viewed 4203 times since 19 December 2014.
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Tasty Treats of Orlando - Part 1
One thing not often mentioned about Orlando is its proliferation of tasty treats. I have wasted a good amount of time sampling these – all in the name of research of course!
At the edge of Celebration and in the Florida Mall (and possibly...
Viewed 4371 times since 19 November 2012.
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Magic Kingdom - Tomorrowland
For all you budding time travellers, this will suit you down to the ground. First ride is Stitch’s Great Escape, if you’ve visited Walt Disney World in the past, you may remember this attraction as the Extraterrestrial Alien Encounter, now re...
Viewed 4873 times since 1 September 2008.
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E.T. Adventure at Universal Studios
The E. T. Adventure has always been one of my favourite rides in Universal Studios in Florida. The very first time we visited it with our young children was back in the early 90’s. The ride is located in Woody Woodpecker’s KidZone. It may not be the ...
Viewed 3720 times since 1 February 2012.
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Hollywood Studios
Which theme park is the best depends on your own personal preferences. One of my favourite parks is Hollywood Studios (one of the Disney Parks). The park is designed around a movie theme and really brings the movies to life through the various rides ...
Viewed 4675 times since 17 November 2009.
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Character Breakfast at Chef Mickey’s
Located in Disney’s Contemporary Resort this is a really fabulous way to get lots of photos of your family with the characters without having to stand in line. We tried it out for the first time this Easter, our party was made up of four ad...
Viewed 5943 times since 1 September 2008.
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What’s so great about Universal Studios? Islands of Adventure 5
What’s so great about Universal Studios? Islands of Adventure 5
In the last part we ended in the very wet area of Toon Lagoon a great place to visit when it’s really hot , get yourself wet and cool down and if you go on any of the ride...
Viewed 3346 times since 24 December 2013.
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Christmas in Orlando - A wonderful Treat.
The first thing you will notice about Christmas in Orlando is when you arrive at the airport, the enormous Christmas tree decorated in beautiful colours and lights. This is a sign of what is to come. Every where you go you will see decorations the li...
Viewed 3930 times since 25 December 2011.
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Mamas Greek Cuisine in Florida (yes, really!)
Are you planning to visit Tarpon Springs during your Florida holiday ? If the answer is yes, then I can recommend eating at ' Mamas Greek Cuisine' The ' Mama' from the restaurants name was born in Greece but came to Tarpon Springs in 1961. Na...
Viewed 4544 times since 8 July 2010.
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Heritage - Eco River Tour
When visiting Crystal River many people take commercial boat trips to swim with the manatees, but if you are looking for something a little different, why not try a Heritage -Eco River tour?
These tours leave The Crystal River Preserv...
Viewed 3576 times since 18 November 2015.
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Going with the Flow – Lazy Rivers Part 3 Blizzard Beach
Lazy Rivers Part 3 Blizzard Beach As a bit of a wimp where water slides and flumes are concerned, whenever we visit one of the water parks I naturally gravitate towards the lazy rivers. Whilst the children rush off to experience the thrills of...
Viewed 4766 times since 7 October 2010.
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Visiting Disney with Senior relatives
As villa owners we are frequently asked what do we do in Florida as we go there so often. When we first travelled to Florida we did not have children and we used to enjoy the beaches and parks as ‘big’ kids ourselves. As time went on we had our famil...
Viewed 3375 times since 23 April 2013.
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Florida Caverns State Park
As Florida has over 160 state parks covering some 700, 000 acres you are never very far away from one of the states areas of natural beauty and while the majority of visitors will probably base themselves in the Orlando area there are some who will w...
Viewed 3858 times since 16 October 2010.
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Florida Firearms Experience
Want to spend a day away from the parks and still do something with an American feel then the Florida Firearms experience could be what you are looking for. The range is situated South of I4 and West of US27 but good directions are given. If ...
Viewed 4909 times since 27 November 2010.
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Making the Most of Disneys Fast Pass
Disney realised that time management to get around the parks was vital to helping guests see as much as they could during their visit and the Fast Pass system seems to be the answer. The computerised virtual queuing system allows guests t...
Viewed 5578 times since 15 August 2010.
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Typhoon Lagoon - 2011
It’s been a while since we visited Typhoon Lagoon as a family, and we left it to the very last day of our holiday to visit on our August/September 2011 trip.
The first good thing about Disney water parks is that it is Free parking! We wer...
Viewed 4179 times since 9 September 2011.
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