Booking your first Florida holiday that involves staying in a villa is an exciting thing to do and a great part of the holiday process. There are many things to think about, lots of ideas and opportunities and so we have put together this guide of the best way to book with a Florida villa owner direct.
Before actually starting to look for villas it is an idea to just decide on some of the basics, these may sound simple but it makes life easier. Things to think about are
All this information is fairly basic we admit but there are number of things that are easily overlooked. Most of the villas in Florida are Continue reading “Booking your first villa in Florida” »
Since 1993, Southern Dunes in Haines City just south of Orlando, has been
hailed as one of Florida’s premier golfing experiences. Among the awards
bestowed upon this Steve Smyers design are: 4 1/2 stars (out of 5) from Golf
Digest Places to Play (2002-03), America’s Best Top Daily Fee Courses (Golf
& Travel 2001), Top 100 Modern Course in America (Golf Week 1997-2001), Top
100 Courses in America You Can Play For $100 or Less (Travel & Leisure
2002), and Top 10 Courses Built in America in the Past Ten Years (Links Magazine
1987-97).The dramatic hillside layout of Southern Dunes provides golfers with an
experience that is truly unique for Central Florida. And the “dunes” in the name
is not there simply as an eye-catcher. A significant amount of sand and waste
area creates a formidable challenge for all levels of golfers and also adds to
the aesthetic beauty of the layout (as witnessed in this photo of the par three
14th).
The imaginative design with slopes, contours and high-lipped bunkers plus fast and firm conditions afford golfers Continue reading “Southern Dunes Golf & Country Club” »
Aquatica Orlando is the newest waterpark to have been opened in Florida. Florida in many ways is about warm weather, great attractions and water either from the Sea, the pool or best of all the Water Parks and at Aquatica you can have everything in one place as it is the home of them all.
There are some awesome rides to be taken in Aquatica and if you have heard the name of Aquatica or seen any images of video then it will have been of the “Dolphin Plunge” ride, this is an excellent experience where you ride a 250 foot see through slide tube. Ok that sounds like most water slides but what makes it a bit special though is that the bottom half of the ride passes through the Dolphin pool giving you
Following on from the article that we wrote about the use of fastpasses on major rides in Disney there has been some news recently to say that Disney is now looking to try and use the fast pass idea for the parades throughout the park. As we know fast passes offer the user the ability to book a timed slot in which they will go one of the major rides, this then allows them access to an entrance to the ride that misses about 80% of the queue as it helps the park to manage the queue as it means they can even out the number of people wanting to use the ride throughout the day.
The mention of using Fast Passes for the parade is slightly confusing. At this time they are only trialling a system for a month or so but it will work with Disney cast members randomly handing out fast passes for Continue reading “Fastpass for parades” »
Busch Gardens is a bit further away from the main Disney Parks but I would strongly advise the extra half an hours or so journey in the car as this park has it all and holds some fantastic memories from each of the times I have been there.
The first time it was just Mike and I and I wanted to go, mainly, to see the White Tigers. For me these are just utterly gorgeous creatures that I was so keen to see up close. I remember walking through the animal area then over this kind of bridge and there you look down on the Tiger’s Continue reading “Busch Gardens – A Place of Wonderful Memories” »
Dolphins at Seaworld are either the largest (pardon the pun) or second largest reason that people go to SeaWorld in my opinion. The first time we went to Florida I wasn’t really bothered about going to Seaworld as I just wanted to go to Disney and the water parks and see whatever there was. Mel however was quite adamant that she wanted to go to SeaWorld and as my kid brother was 6 at the time it would be a good park for him to go to. I must now admit that I have been converted and I too insist that we have to go to Seaworld on each trip, see any new rides that there are and also go and feed the Dolphins.
The first time we fed the Dolphins in Dolphin Cove it was just Mel and I and the enjoyment from having a Dolphin come up to get a fish to eat out of your hand and you have the rare opportunity to stroke a Dolphin was well worth having to hold smelly fish! I felt like i was in Flipper. With there just being the 2 of us that did rather mean there was no-one to take a photo, however on the other side of the pool there are a few photographers that take pictures of people doing the feeding and then radio over the people on your side to let you know there is a picture if you want one. This is I think the only time I have bought one of the photos that has been taken, but it is one of our most cherished!
You can understand how they have taken this to the next level with the creation of Discovery Cove (make sure you book early) where you can swim with Dolphin to fulfil the desire to just jump in the tank with them!
Feeding the dolphins at Seaworld technically is not a charged experience although to feed them one has to argue that you have to spend to get the fish that you feed them. Make sure that you get the timing right as you can only feed them at their feeding times as well as there is a limit on the amount that they can feed and so there is normally a good queue at the fish buying stall and so as usual you should make sure that you arrive in good time.!!
Discovery Cove is one of the relatively new parks in Florida with the great opportunity to swim with Dolphins. Of course the swim is one of the things people associate as being something they have to do before they die! There are few places in the world that you can swim with Dolphins, and those that offer this are only assuming that they are able to locate the animals. There are a number of things that separate this experience at Discovery cove as this is a very controlled environment where the animals well being is paramount, this is stressed through the day as if the Dolphin does not appear happy of wanting to participate then it is excluded from the experience. This I think is one of the important things about the idea behind the cove as the well being of the animals must be paramount.
Booking Discovery Cove however is a MUST. Entrance to Discovery Cove is limited Continue reading “Booking Discovery Cove” »
Rock n Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith is the official name of the very cool ride that you can find at Hollywood Studio’s at Disney World. The ride opened in 99 and offers you a high speed ride as you ride in Aerosmiths Limousine to try and get to the gig on time through the rush hour traffic. Fortunately you are in a rather special high speed Limo that starts you off by rushing out of the station by accelerating from 0-60 in 2.8 seconds.
The ride is an enclosed roller coaster that is almost in pitch black. As you are queuing up you are introduced to the band whilst walking through a recording studio. For those not familiar with Aerosmith (seriously??) they are the modern day rock band and were most well known at the time for the giving most of the soundtrack to Armageddon!
This ride is a great high speed roller coaster that is full of surprises with the track being almost Continue reading “Rock n Roller Coaster” »
Universal Studios is a great place to go and has loads of rides for all ages. We have been there a couple of times, once without kids and once with. One of my favourite rides there is the E.T ride. I loved the film and I was so excited when I saw there was an E.T ride at Universal. Being very much a child at heart it really appealed to me.
When you first walk in and go through the queing area you have to give your name to a machine which was Continue reading “Universal Studios – The E.T. Ride” »
This was a something that caught out my father on his first every holiday to Florida with the full family. We were a party of 5 adults and 1 child on a holiday that had been planned to the minutest detail as we were all so excited as this was our first trip to Florida and it was the place I had always wanted to go to. We had booked the holiday as a package deal (not much internet back then, that is why I started this site) and so we had flights, a villa for us all and 2 Rental Free Cars.  That was good news obviously as it meant we had all the main elements ticked off except for the tickets for entrances, but as we had booked through a company for the villa we did not know which villa, or even which estate etc… A shock was on the way.
Having had our 10 hour flight we all bundled off Continue reading “Rental free car OR free rental car” »
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