We have not been on holiday in Florida for 3 years as we have been living outside of the UK and it was just to far to go, so we had mixed feelings about our trip back here. My wife and I were excited, my 2 kids Luke (13) and Annie (11) less so. They really enjoyed the holidays we took across Asia and were so, so about coming back here. Still, I'm paying so they have to go where we chose!
Fairly uneventful flight on Easter Sunday - we flew BA Club and fortunately the plane was pretty empty as my wife's leg rest broke and my daughter had to move twice before she found a seat where the TV worked. All in all though a comfortable flight over, the service was excellent.
When we arrived in Immigration my heart sank, we had landed just after a Lufthansa and a Virgin flight and the hall was full. That said they did a great job of processing people quickly and despite the huge queue we were through in about 30 mins. My last trip stateside was to NYC in Feb and the queue was about a quarter of the size but took 2 hours so I was thrilled with how efficient they were in Orlando. Down to Alamo to pick up our car, we booked a luxury SUV and were given a choice of an BMW X3 or a suburban, we chose the Suburban which is, well, HUGE... It is like driving a house around and three days in we are already half way through a tank of petrol! Oh well there is plenty of space for the four of us.
We are staying at Windsor Hills on this trip and to be honest, we are a little disappointed with the villa, despite it being the most expensive we have ever booked. We were spoilt last time staying at a fabulous villa on the Reunion resort and this just doesn't quite match up. It is very nice, but I get the sense it is a business first and a home second as the decoration is perfect, but the small touches are just not there. The mattresses are cheep, the pillows are really cheep, nothing major and hard to describe, but just not as comfortable as the other villas we have stayed in.
On the first morning we woke at the usual 5.00am and headed off early for breakfast at Cracker Barrel, then on to the new Target at rolling Oak to stock up on food and buy some pillows! We then returned to the villa and enjoyed the pool before heading out to play some mini golf and dinner at the new steak restaurant at rolling hills. An early night was had by all. The weather was just perfect, a comfortable 82 with clear sky. Florida weather at it's best.
Day 2 we again woke early and decided to head to Islands of adventure. When we arrived at Universal there was what looked like about a million people heading towards IOA and no one walking to the other universal park. It seemed that we were not alone in our enthusiasm to visit Harry Potter world. Remembering that this was peak week and that next week would be a lot quieter, we decided to head to Universal studios instead. We purchased the express passes for us all and then worked our way around the park. The new roller coaster was great fun and we enjoyed all of the usual rides. We mourned the passing of the Jaws ride, especially as that whole area of the park looks like a building site at the moment and the view across the lake is of hordings. We had lunch in the Irish pub and mid afternoon headed back to the villa via the premium outlets where I went a bit mad in the American Eagle store stocking up my son's wardrobe. Back at the Villa and Luke cooked a Spag Bol for tea. Again another perfect weather day..
Day 3, Luke and I had booked on the Florida Firearms adventure. Mixed feelings about this as overall it was a good day and it was interesting to handle the guns, but I wasn't so sure about the commentary. The guy running the course was keen to tell me that "people not guns create the problem" (sort of true I guess) and then lost me when he started on the line that "guns create a respectful society and people are polite in America because of the number of guns around...." I totally gave up when he told me that they had to protect themselves against thugs... "thugs killing thugs where they live is fine but if they wander in my neighbourhood....." Kind of understand why there is so much tension around the Zimmerman shooting out here at the moment. There were two instructors and the younger of the 2 was fantastic - really patient and good at coaching you to use the gun properly, he was brilliant with Luke. The focus on safety was perfect, really made us feel comfortable that we were in the hands of professionals. If you can ignore the politics (or if you agree with them) then overall a fun and different experience to the parks. Back to the Villa then on to Chillis at Champions Gate for dinner and a quick call into Publix on the way home. Another beautiful day of sunshine.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks