OK, this is our guide to Orlando written by Sue and based on the places
we went and our own experiences. You may disagree, but we at least hope
that it will give you some ideas.
Sea World
Meet Shamu and all the other sea life, this is a full day of activity
with a great firework disply at the end in the form of the Mystic
Knights show. Sea World is a place where when you get the activity
schedule for the day you have to plan where you are going to go and when
so that you can fit in as many shows or displays as possible.
Kennedy Space Center
Just Brian and Dans sort of place, and the tours make the day fly by. If
you are lucky like we were you might even get to see a shuttle on the
launch pad.
River Country Water Park This was a day we didn't need, we expected
a pretty exciting water park set along the lines of Huck Finn and all
that, but we found a small and very restrictive location. Compared to
some European water park, it is small and doesn't really have anything
that exciting or unusual. The rope swings which are often included in
advertising turns out to be one in the middle of the lake. The biggest
problem for us was we wanted the children to be able to play together in
the water and slides, but found that with Thomas not able to swim, they
were not allowed to play in the same area and enjoy the slides becuase
of hieght restrictions. We left and demanded a refund which we we given,
we won't be back.
Gatorland Go here, it is great
for a half day for the children to see Alligator wrestilng and some
pretty nasty looking creatures. We have a picture of Thomas holding a
baby Alligator. It was also nice to see all the alligators in their
natural habitats and enjoyed spotting them hiding form the safety of the
walkway. The afternoon we went shopping in Orlando.
Magic Kingdom Well, with two children aged 7 and 9 this had to be a
favourite and I loved it as well. Our mistake was making it one of the
first places we went to on the second day of our holiday. It will
definately take you a full day from about 10am - 10pm so save it till
later on when you and the kids have adjusted to the time changes. The
parades are excellent but you need to get a spot about 30 minutes
before. We missed the firework disply becauise the children were just to
tired, but I am sure that some of the others are better.
Epcot Brian and Daniel enjoyed this, but it was not high on my list
of locations, they were doing some renovation work when we visited ready
for the millenium which spoilt the entry photo opportunity. We split it
into two days, the first in the Innovations area by the entrance which
was a shorter day. The second was reserved for the World Showcase,
dinner at the Italian restaurant and a late night staying for the
fireworks at 9pm.
MGM Studios The very last place we went to, and what an ending to
our stay. Make sure you stay for the absolutely fantastic Fantasmic,
worth the wait in the queue and a must for anyone visiting Florida.
Animal Kingdom Head straight for the Kilamanjaro Safari trail and
get through the queue early, we had a rhino just inches from the truck
side. Also expect plenty of fun for the younger children under the tree
of life.
Universal Studios Some really great rides which are a nice change
from the desire for theme parks to head towards white knuckle rides.
Jaws, Kongfrontation and Earthquake are all great rides and Thomas
really enjoyed them all. Make sure that if you stay for the stunt
spectacular on the lake in the evening that you are in the right place
to see most of the action, check out the Park Layout and Tips for an
idea.
Beltz
Shopping Mall Don't forget you can get some Disney stuff here for a
lot less $
Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure We missed this saving it for
the next time.