Just back from Orlando

[seanchai]

We got back two days ago after three weeks in the Lindfields reserve ....a lovely villa which the family(9 of us) were glad to retire to at night after hectic days of queuing in the parks ...the pool was lovely for a dip first thing in the morning and even on the few days we had off the parks we were more than glad of the pool.
We ate out at various places along the irlo bronson highway but during our stay the golden coral had a bad report and their manager had video footage of uncooked food being stored next to the waste bins .....(the manager had footage which he tried to sell to the firm for $5000 but they refused, so he released the footage to channel 13 news) ....so we gave golden coral a miss.
we were amazed at how low the prices were in ralph lauren and timberland shops in the outlets ....of course we bought to many clothes and the cases were full to capacity...
I must say that we needed a sat nav and i would advise anyone who is not sure of their directions(or first time travellers to orlando) to rent a sat nav .(quite expensive ...but well worth it )
we are still trying to recover and i think we might well go for another break (in europe somewhere this time hahahahahha)......it was a glorious three weeks in orlando but it was hectic and we covered all of the disney parks and all of universal....
It rained for four days and to be honest we were glad of the rain which came belting down in the afternoons .
we had no problems with customs ect and they were very nice to us ....we were through customs within thirty minutes ......it was not something i was looking forward to due to some of the things i read, but it turned out fine .

Lastly , let me thank everyone on this forum who gave us advice on our trip .It prepared us for our holiday and gave us invaluable advice on various matters .....thank you all.
(If i can help anyone with their questions i would be only to happy to give my view of our trip....or various things that cropped up during our stay )

[jantel]

It's a great place to visit isn't it? Glad your all home safely. It must be great to come back to this glorious weather we are having!

[seanchai]

Indeed it is a great place to visit jantel......and i told my wife that we are very lucky coming home to this weather ......as it allows her to get all the washing dried hahahahahahha....she was not amused hahahahahha.
My family are now talking about booking up for next year ....i,m afraid my wife and i are still to shattered to start thinking of next year just yet .
the worst part of the journey was the train ride from manchester airport to edinburgh ...the trans-penine 'express' stopped at every station from manchester to edinburgh ...it was a long journey in a very slow train .The train was filled to overflowing all the way and we had to leave nine cases at the doorway of the train as there was no room elsewhere ....it has been a long time since i travelled in a train and i expected the train to have a guards van to hold all the cases ....most of the train was packed with holiday makers either going to or coming from holiday so most people had cases of some sort ...so i would not advise anyone to take the train to manchester from edinburgh.

[Lizb]

Your family have the right idea, Orlando has so much to offer, especially shopping at the Outlet Malls!

Good to read you all had a great time, renting a vacation home does offer so many advantages.

[Jill]

Glad to hear you had a good time and an enjoyable holiday. You were lucky getting through customs fairly quickly - we had a long wait in November so reverted to Tampa for our last visit which was far quicker.

[LiesaAnna]

sorry to say it but welcome back... glad u had a great time xx

[Val]

Sounds like you had a great time and everything went well. Yes Orlando can get under your skin and I am sure it will not be long before you start planning your return as Florida has so much to offer.
At least you are home to great weather

Val

[seanchai]

Yes it was a grand holiday indeed and we all enjoyed ourselves very much ...so much to do and see and i think it would take months to cover all the various sights in orlando and surrounding areas .
The only problem we had was at universal ...we got in ok the first time but we were stopped every time after that ....and about our third visit we were held to one side and questioned about where we bought our tickets, when we bought them and how much it cost us ....it was a bit off-putting to say the least ....my son went right to the customer services to complain about the treatment we received ...and they apologised , gave us new tickets and express passes for various rides ...which i must admit, came in handy.
Tickets were for sale at various shops along the irlo bronson highway and when we went for petrol we were asked a few times if we had tickets for sale ...buying buckshee tickets its not something i would advise after the hassle we had at universal with our legally bought tickets, i can only imagine the trouble you might have with illegally bought tickets .
Thanks very much for the "welcome home" ...to be honest i think me and my wife were ready for home but the family are still wishing we were out in orlando hahahahahaha.

[Tony G]

Wow! Small world!

The villa I was out there to view was in Lindfields Reserve!

You may have seen me standing outside Crayson Ct staring at a villa trying to make a decision... I noticed a number of curtains twitching!

[seanchai]

Yep Tony...a small world indeed .....we noticed that a couple of houses in Crayson Ct were for sale , the one directly across from us (we were 8805 Crayson CT....third last villa on the right hand side as you go down the street )My son commented about maybe putting a bid in for the villa across the road from us (not bad prices either) ....we were lounging by the pool one morning when we heard a very loud explosion , when we went outside the house across from us had plumes of black smoke coming from it , the fire brigade were there within five minutes, , (i think it maybe had something to do with the pool pump house as the pool guy was there at the time). The explosion certainly rattled the windows of the houses in the vicinity.