Hello! We hope everyone is fine n dandy in these uncertain times… this weeks blog and vlog will be about us “selling Orlando”…not in the literal sense, but in the way a travel agent or holiday company would. This has come about from me (Rob here *waves*) talking to some of my work colleagues about the vlogs and blogs. They were interested in what they can do when they arrive in the happiest place on earth and what else is there apart from rollercoasters (which seems to be a lot of Brits impression of Orlando).
As per usual I started telling them that Orlando isn’t just theme parks. It’s an absolutely beautiful part of the world and all they have to do to is pop onto a plane to find out! There is SO much to see and do in the great state of Florida that we couldn’t really cover it in one blog or vlog. What we will say is when you visit, and you will…. PLEASE don’t limit your stay to the parks, you will be doing yourself a disservice.
So lets pop along and see what’s what… the one main thing that sells Orlando and Florida to us is the people. They make the holiday – from the TSA staff at the airport to the good folks at the car rental desk, your first interaction with them is a positive one, the smiles are infectious and so are the way you are spoken to, we never get tired of being called “sir or ma’am”. A lot of folks worry about driving here, please don’t, its a doddle. With wide lanes and really well signposted roads driving is a pleasure. We generally argue about who’s driving each day a we both enjoy it so much, its a case of grabbing the keys and shouting “my go” and running to the car. As for parking, well lets put it this way if you can’t park a car in the giant spaces here, you really shouldn’t be driving! The one thing that UK folks are always amazed at is the turning right on a red light. The first few times we did it we were sure someone was gonna be whizzing through the lights the other way, but nope its really cool to be able to do this, all you have to do is make sure you are ABLE to do this, there will be a sign at the junction telling you if it’s allowed at that particular junction – and obviously you have to check the oncoming traffic.
Eating out in Florida is a pleasure. A real pleasure. You have so many styles of food to choose from and there’s the dilemma of choosing a restaurant, and then what to have off a normally very long menu. Herein lies the problem…what to choose and then sticking with that choice! As a rule I normally make my mind up and order my food asap, that way its doesn’t get too confusing. Tracey is vegetarian and in years past she has really struggled to find something to eat, it was either salads or pasta dishes, but now the choice is mind blowing from plant based foods to classic vegetarian dishes, she is very happy now, and don’t think you can’t get these foods in the theme parks too – you absolutely can. There is a massive ‘plant based revolution’ all over Florida’s theme parks. (Hooray for that – Tracey here *waves*).
We WILL talk about the parks we promise, but there is so much more to see and do in Orlando and Florida. We love nothing more than exploring the coasts and our fave place has to be Clearwater. A huge sandy beach with loads to do. We spend a good part of the day just wandering along the shoreline taking in all the sights and sounds and trying to decide what restaurant to eat in and what time to take our boat trip out to see the dolphins. It’s a hard life in Orlando…. If the mood takes you why not take a drive up to St Augustine, one of the oldest towns in the U.S.A. There you see some of the oldest buildings in the U.S. there is also the fountain of youth that was discovered by Ponce de Leon. (FYI. It doesn’t work. We tried it….)
One our absolute must do’s is to visit our favourite beach, Clearwater, miles of bright clean sand, stunning views with a whole ton of restaurants to choose from for when you get peckish. While we are there we always jump onto “the Screamer” a dolphin boat trip that is so much fun. They take you all along the water front pointing out all the huge houses and who they belong to, then they pop out into the bay and that’s when the fun starts, dolphins love to play in the wake of the boat and its a magical sight to see.
If you are looking for something ‘else’ to do there is so much to do, for example if you staying on or near to International Drive you are spoiled for choice. There is the Orlando Eye, Top Golf, Icon park, The Star Flyer and Mario Andretti’s carting just for starters. THEN, You can actually go along I-drive. There is so much on there, from bars and clubs to escape rooms and the Titanic exhibition and Wonderworks. Or you can head off to Celebration – a beautiful little town well worth a visit.
If you fancy a drive out, and you really should, you will see the ‘real’ Orlando/Florida, and its stunning. Simply stunning. We always stop off at a “mom and pop’’ diner and eat and chat with the locals. One of our favourite places to visit is Boggy Creek Airboat rides. This place blew us away the first time we went. The staff here are very passionate about what they do and protecting the wildlife, on the last trip we saw lots thanks to the airboat captain who must have eyes like a hawk! He got us pretty close to some of the ‘locals’ in the water and the most impressive thing we saw was the young Bald Eagle, who, even though he was not very old, was huge. You cannot put a price on sights like that… the boat ride itself it possibly some of the best fun you will have in Orlando, imagine sitting on a metal tray with an aeroplane engine behind you. Man alive that thing really scoots across the water!
Right……….the main reason we go….THE PARKS!!!ALL OF THEM!! We love parks. But you don’t have to do all the ‘big ticket’ rides to have fun, as I was explaining there is so much to see and do you could do days without setting foot on a ride. The one lad I was talking to about Orlando was telling me he’s a massive Potter fan and Star Wars fan, ‘’well’’ I said “lets talk about what you can see and do then…” I was telling him about Hogwarts, Diagon Alley an Hogsmeade and the Hogwarts Express and it blew his mind, the fact you can travel between parks on the Hogwarts Express with the little show that happens (no spoilers here) and end up in another part of the franchise made his head spin. He was amused and amazed with the “real magic wands” that you can buy and then weave spells and make window displays move or rainfall happen, or the visit to Olivanders wand shop where the wand will choose you… (we’ve seen this and we can attest its a brilliant way to see a child’s, or adults for that matter, faces light up when they receive the wand that was meant for them. Gotta say this is worth the price of admission itself. And there are all the sweets in the shops to try. Not sure about the Vomit flavour one though…..
THEN we got talking about Star Wars and Blackspire Outpost. I sent him a few links to some YouTube vlogs and he was sold!! He was so excited to learn you could actually fly the ‘Falcon as well as drink in a cantina?? Bonkers. Even though he doesn’t like “big rides” we got chatting about Rise of the Resistance ride. And the queue within the queue, and again the level of detail that has gone into it, right down to the blaster damage next to you when you are being shot at.
We carried on talking about the WDW parks and how much entertainment that is ‘’normally” packed in (we say normally because of the current crisis a lost been scaled back), the Lion King show or the Fantasmic shows, or if you love eating and drinking (who doesn’t right??) a few days in Epcot, one of our fave parks. You can ride ‘Soarin! (Again a must do!) cruise with Living with the Land, race around Test Track then take a stroll around the world……..eating and drinking to your hearts content. Champagne and crepes in France, Beer and Sausage in Germany, Pizza and Prosecco in Italy or get to the U.S.A. Pavilion and go nuts on the bbq and funnel cake. ( We do. A lot)!
We got to talking about animals and we talked Animal Kingdom, a stunning beautiful park, the plants and trees make it feel you are actually entering another continent when you walk around, or in the case of Pandora, another world. If you try to explain how the “lands’’ look its hard, try to explain how at night Pandora lights up from subtle changes to create bioluminescence, how the footpath glows when you step on it, the noises and smells. We always say its best to visit, pictures don’t really do it justice. Honestly. And lets not even start about Flight of Passage – a ride on a Banshee!?
Lastly we talked water parks. Who doesn’t love a water park?? Blizzard beach, Typoon Lagoon or the new big boy on the block Universal’s Volcano Bay. Each of these are worth doing twice each. Running around whizzing down water slides, or gently bobbing along on the lazy river, or maybe just setting up your sun bed in a chilled spot and just relax. We always regret not spending enough time at a water park. It’s our own fault. We want to see and do SO much we have to sacrifice a day or half day trying something new. We hope this has “sold Orlando” to you. We love love it. We really really do. And if we can convert others along the way, then more the merrier!
Take care and stay safe, hopefully after next weekend we will have the new “studio” up and ready. We’ll hopefully be showing you our progress with our special Orlando themed room. In the mean time keep washing ya hands, keep 6 feet away from people and we’ll catch ya real soon. Rob and Tracey.
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