Florida Dreamin'. Review on Florida

I have been to Florida many times and have to say it is the best place around for a fun packed holiday. I will attempt to explain why without boring you to tears!

Florida is on the south-east tip of the USA, around nine hours flight time from the UK. It has a tropical climate, warm all year round with practically unbearable humidity in the summer months. Bearing in mind that the hurricane season runs from June to November, I would say that the best time to visit is April or May, when it isn't unbearably hot, the humidity is relatively low and the crowds in the theme parks aren't too bad.

Getting there:

Is pretty easy. There are flights out of the UK nearly every day. The majority of charter flights from the UK land at Orlando Sanford Airport, which is about an hours drive away from Orlando. This can be inconvenient, especially if, after a nine hour flight, you have to drive in rush hour traffic. Just make sure you have plenty of change for the toll roads (there are about four from the airport).

International Drive is where the majority of the action is. Sea World is situated at the bottom and Universal is situated in the middle with BELZ factory outlet at the very top. It is also where the majority of the hotels and restaurants are.

Shopping:

For me, this was the best thing about Orlando. There are numerous retail outlets, the best and most famous being, BELZ and the Mercado.

I highly recommend BELZ. It is easily accessible from I-Drive on the I-RIde (75 C each trip). It has loads of top quality items from stores such as GAP, LEVIS, REEBOK, NIKE and CALVIN KLEIN all at rock bottom prices. Girls take your credit cards!!

Eating out:

The choice is endless. I-Drive has dozens of different restaurants to suit every taste and budget. I would recommend the breakfast at Ponderosa which is all you can eat for $3.99. Bargain! Also highly recommended is Sizzlers. A word of warning of you are going to Florida, buy all of your holiday clothes a size larger than normal, as you will definitely put on weight! The portions are huge!

Theme parks:

This is what the majority of people go to Orlando for - the great theme parks. From the kiddie (and adult) thrills and spills at the Disney parks such as Epcot, Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom to the brilliant Sea World and finally Universal.

My personal favourites were Islands of Adventure and Sea World. Islands of Adventure is a brand new theme park with exciting rides. Amongst the best are The Incredible Hulk, DR Doom's Fearfall and Duelling Dragons. If you want to beat the crowds, get there for opening and at the entrance to the park instead of turning left like everybody else and rushing to the Spiderman ride, turn right and do Duelling Dragons first, then onto Dr Doom's Fearfall and finally, The Incredible Hulk. This will leave you the rest of the day to spend at your leisure.

And finally: (I hear you sigh with relief!)

Its standard practice to tip at least 15-20% of the total bill in restaurants and bars. However, you don't mind this as the service is usually very good. Taxi drivers also expect to be tipped.

If you even look under 30, I would advise you to take some ID when going out to buy alcohol as they have very strict laws about underage drinking in Florida.

And finally, remember the 6% tax that is added to bills.

I hope this review is some use to anyone considering going to Florida. Feel free to comment on it. I would like to know how to improve on it! This is only my third review.

:-)