My Trip Report – Louise Is Back From Florida

Hey Thrill Seekers,

In case you didn’t already know, I’ve just come back from the most amazing holiday ever! That’s right, I’ve been to Orlando. Whilst in Florida I used our new iPhone app, taking snaps of what I was doing each day, which James has shared on our facebook page.

We arrived in the evening so we headed straight to the villa after a long flight to get some rest ready for our first day which we spent at Aquatica.

Soaking up the sun and relaxing proves quite difficult in 35 degree heat, so much so that cooling down in the wave pool and rapids didn’t even help. A few hours in and I already looked like a lobster! We didn’t get round to any of the slides today as we just wanted to relax after the previous day of travelling and planned to head back another day to do these.

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For our second day we went to Universal Studios as we just couldn’t wait any longer to check out some of the latest Harry Potter attractions including Kings Cross Station. Harry Potter And The Escape From Gringott’s was a new one to us so we had to try it and with no surprise, we loved it! The amount of detail added to the whole place was unreal. It felt like we were back in London! PS, visit Springfield and buy a doughnut. ‘The Big Pink One’ is phenomenal!

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The third day for me, was the best because half of our group went to Discovery Cove to fulfil our life long dreams of not only touching a dolphin, but actually swimming with one! An experience that I will most definitely cherish. As soon as you walk into the park they greet you and ensure that you have everything done for you. Bliss! We made the most of the day by doing everything we possibly could like visiting the Aviary to see all the beautiful birds, snorkelling in the Grand Reef with the sting rays and all of the other fish and then for a float around the Wind-Away River.

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The day we got to visit Magic Kingdom was a special day as it was Magic Kingdom’s birthday! We always head round to the left first in this park, get the water rides out of the way I guess! Starting with Pirates of the Caribbean in Adventureland and then straight to Splash Mountain in Frontierland giving us the rest of the day to dry off. Our family favourite at Magic Kingdom is definitely Space Mountain in Tomorrowland. As thrill seekers this is the biggest ride at Magic Kingdom so we have to get our fix.

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Now it’s the weekend and what better way to spend a gorgeous, sunny Saturday than at Busch Gardens, Tampa. This is the day that the whole OAT office had been waiting for, not just me. This is the day that I finally got to experience Falcons Fury! Luckily for me the queue for Falcons was small so I got on straight away. Not enough time to even think about bottling it! There was no way I was coming this far not to do it and I am so glad I did as it was amazing! We can mention the fact that it is 335 feet high as many times as we want but it does not do it any justice until you’re right up the top facing the floor ready for that drop. Incredible!

Evening time is the best time to head over to Disney Springs, formerly known as Downtown Disney. We arrived on the opening evening of Disney Springs without even realising it. Every time we visit Orlando we have a meal at Planet Hollywood and have never been disappointed so it is well worth a try. Heading over towards the HUGE Disney store, we were distracted by some new staging where they had music and games with the crowd which is definitely something to watch. There was so much to see that we came back at least 3 times during our holiday.

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We took a couple of days off from the parks to rest our feet by having a relaxing day at the villa by our pool and a trip to Miami Beach. Of course we took another day off for some retail therapy and made good use of the free smile alerts that OAT offer heading to the malls.

When we visited Animal Kingdom, the first thing that caught our eye was obviously  ‘the tree of life’. You can’t miss it! This is also where you’ll find ‘It’s tough to be a bug’. As we all stood there to take our photos, as tourists do, we overheard one of the workers saying about an extraordinary experience with Macaws so we decided to wait around for 5 minutes to see what it was all about. She was right, it was extraordinary! Seeing over 30 Macaws flying over your head to sit together for food was something I will probably never see again. We managed to get on the Kilimanjaro Safari Expedition and were lucky enough to see at least one of each animal. Not forgetting of course the Kali River Rapids, the best rapids I’ve been on at a theme park. Our favourite coaster at Animal Kingdom is definitely Expedition Everest. If you haven’t already been on this, I won’t ruin the surprise but it is a must! (Even for those who aren’t too much of a thrill seeker).

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Hollywood Studios looked different to us as soon as we arrived as Mickey’s Sorcerers Hat from Fantasia was gone. We knew it wasn’t going to be there but it caught our attention straight away. In it’s place now is ‘The Great Movie Ride’ taking you through all the famous movies through time. Of course, we headed over to Aerosmith’s Rock n’ Roller Coaster and Hollywood’s Tower of Terror which are both unmissable rides at Hollywood Studios. My favourite part of the day was watching the Theater of the Stars which was Beauty and the Beast. One of my favourite Disney films!

Straight from Hollywood Studios we headed over to Universal for D-Day…Halloween Horror Nights! I was not looking forward to this at all as I’m not a fan of anything scary. I must say, it was a lot more enjoyable than I expected. Although it very busy so we only had enough time for 1 of the scare houses, American Werewolf. We spent so long in the scare zones and watching the 2 shows that we didn’t realise how quickly the time had gone. If you visit Orlando at this time of the year, you must try it out.

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Our usual plan for Islands of Adventure had to be altered slightly as the Incredible Hulk Coaster was closed for refurbishment but this didn’t spoil our day as Islands of Adventure is probably our favourite park. Straight onto Doctor Doom’s Fearfall and the Amazing Adventures of Spiderman. We then headed to Dudley Do-Rights Ripsaw Falls. When they say ‘you may get wet’, it’s a lie. You get soaked!! I couldn’t believe it! So where better to go after that, Jurassic Park River Adventure to make sure you don’t dry off and then get wet all over again. I can’t ever fault this park, I love it.

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We’re nearly at the end of the holiday now so the mood had dropped and we needed cheering up. There’s no better way to spend a hot day than at a water park so we headed down to Typhoon Lagoon. It did rain a little bit but it wasn’t long until the sun was beaming again and we were jumping in and out of the water cooling off. No matter how hard I try not to, I always get burnt. Remember to frequently reapply your sun cream as that sun is hotter than you think! Amazing day going on the all the slides, my favourite being Humunga Kowabunga. As previously mentioned my family are a bunch of thrill seekers so I wanted to find the tallest slide there was and I was going to accomplish it, which I did!

For our last day we headed over to SeaWorld Orlando. Manta and Kraken cannot be missed when you go to Orlando. I did get stuck on the seat on Manta and had to be lifted out which was highly embarrassing! But we’re on holiday so it’s good to have a laugh, even if it is at my expense!

I can’t recommend an Orlando holiday enough, it was amazing and I’ll remember it forever!

Smiles included…

Louise

Orlando Attraction Tickets

 

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