Our Favourite Places

We have stayed in this area of Central Florida for the past five years with our three children and we all love it! As you can see we like it so much we are buying our own house.

Here are some of our thoughts on the area's facilities and hopefully some useful hints and tips.

Miscellaneous.

Getting There. The flight out takes about 9 hours flying direct from the UK. Living in North Wales, we fly from Manchester and Virgin Atlantic is the only Scheduled Carrier flying direct to Orlando International which is the airport we prefer, since its slightly nearer to the house. Charter Flights going direct from Manchester include Airtours, Flying Colours, Air2000 and Monarch. These now arrive at Sanford Airport. Flying from London there are obviously far more options to get there. Flights from the UK to Tampa Airport are also a good option, but we haven't tried that route ourselves.

Car Hire. All the car hire companies will try to get you to upgrade the size of car, buy more insurance and sell you a very expensive tank of gas (petrol). If you want these it's certainly cheaper to pay for them in advance in Britain. We were stung the first time we came ($30 for gas that cost $10 at a filling station!). We now book our flights, accomodation and car hire separately. It should work out cheaper overall, than a package, especially if you Book Our House.

Money. Take most of your money as Traveller's Cheques. These are treated as cash and you will get change in cash wherever you use them. You will need some cash when you arrive since you may have to tip shuttle bus drivers, waitresses, porters or whatever. Depending upon which airport you arrive at and what route you take to the house, you will probably need cash to pay tolls on the toll roads. From Orlando International Airport to the house, there are two tolls of 75 cents and 50 cents. From Sanford Airport using the toll road there are six tollboths and it costs about $6.00. in total.

Coupon Books. Look out for these. These are available everywhere and contain coupons offering money off tourist attractions, restaurants, golf, gifts and general shopping. These are extremely useful and are usually worth about 10% to 20% off! The better ones also have road maps, which you will find helpful. Amongst the best, the ones to look out for are SEE Orlando*Kissimmee, the Welcome Guide and Real Orlando. These are freely available outside malls, garages, restaurants etc. If you would like a copy of some of these, I usually have a few available. (Sorry, UK only).

Places to Visit.

Allow yourself at least one day to visit each theme park - and the following day (or two!) to recover. The first time we went to Florida we tried to do it all in the first week. This is not a good idea! They cost roughly £30 per adult for a day at each park. All the big theme parks charge you $5 or $7 to park your car.

Please take note of where your car is, because the car parks are HUGE and its easy to forget which row or level you are looking for!

Of the four main Disney Parks, our favourites are Animal Kingdom and EPCOT. We try to visit EPCOT at least once every holiday. We thought Disney MGM Studios was alright for one visit but none of us were very impressed with Magic Kingdom. It's probably worth a visit if you have small children and you can at least say you've seen Cinderella's Castle but that's about it! Don't forget to have a ride on the monorail. It's free, once you've parked at EPCOT or Magic Kingdom. Magic Kingdom and Disney MGM Studios have a mid-day parade and EPCOT has an spectacular evening firework display.

Universal Studios is excellent with plenty to do for all ages. There are usually quite long queues for Back to the Future, Jaws, Terminator, Twister, Earthquake and Kongfrontation. The other attractions are usually quieter, but we have had to wait up to two hours for the ET ride.

Universal'snew Islands of Adventure is also very good for children. There are two major roller coasters, Jurassic Park ride and lots of other lesser attractions.

Busch Gardens at Tampa is a mixture of Safari Park and theme park, which works very well. There are plenty of things to do for everyone here. Log flumes, River Rapids, three very big Roller Coasters, safari trips, monorail safari, dolphin shows, cable cars and lots more. The Adventure Island water park is across the road.

We usually visit Sea World on every visit. This is an excellent day out with great shows throughout the day. Don't sit in the front (14) rows of the Shamu Show. It can get very cold and wet, very quickly in that area! Sea World also seems to do two days for the price of one fairly regularly. The Wild Arctic simulator is worth a visit. There are also fireworks here in the evening. There is a new roller coaster here as well - but being a chicken I'll leave it to others to try out!

If you like water parks Disney has several (Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach) and Wet 'n Wild and Water Mania are all highly recommended.

Places to Eat.

Once you get here you soon find out that American's like their food, but in considerable quantities. They also tend to eat what we think are strange combinations. As a rule, refills for drinks are free and in most cases, as soon as a glass or cup is emptied, it is refilled immediately. Here are some of the places we've tried in the past and our verdicts.

• Max's Café at Celebration. This is our current favourite. It's in Disney's town of Celebration, which seems a bit like you've stepped back into the fifties. Celebration is a quiet, pretty little place and Max's Café does lovely food, the staff are very friendly and look after you well.
• Café d'Antonio also at Celebration. This is located across the road from Max's. Our youngest son says the pizzas are the best he has ever eaten! (But he's only 11 so what does he know!!) Its nice to have something to eat and then relax by Celebration lake in a wooden rocking chair, watching the fish at play and the aligators cruising up and down.
• Rainforest Café at Downtown Disney and Animal Kingdom - Lots of excellent food and very unusual surroundings. You usually have to wait up to 30 minutes, which leaves time to wander round the shop, before "your adventure begins". Go there, you'll soon find out what that means!
• Red Lobster A chain of seafood restaurants. We have only tried the one at the Lakeland Square Mall but there are other branches nearer. (on US-192 etc). Very enjoyable food.
• Ponderosa Steakhouse - One of several is located 10 minutes away at Westgate on US-192. Inexpensive - Steaks, seafood etc. plus an eat-as-much-as-you-like buffet is included with the price of most meals.
• Sizzler - The same location as the Ponderosa. Slightly more expensive entrees - Similar food to Ponderosa but better steaks, less comprehensive buffet. The buffet here is charged separately.
• Hard Rock Café at Universal Studios - Worth at least one visit after a long day at Universal Studios. Pig sandwiches are excellent!
• Planet Hollywood at Downtown Disney - A bit expensive for what you get. But, as always, there's plenty of it.
• Motown Café at Universal Boardwalk - Nice food and good 60's and 70's music. Showing my age a bit here!
• Perkin's Diner There are several of these in the area and they offer good value for money.
• All the usual suspects for fast food, Macdonalds, Wendy's, Burger King, IHOP are dotted around here, there and everywhere. The Baseball City junction, 4 minutes south of the house on US-27, has all of these and others.

Places to Shop.

You really can shop 'til you drop here, since many shops are open 24 hours a day.

For food shopping there are two nearby supermarkets. Our favourite is a brand new Publix about 5 minutes away, north, just off US-27, at the intersection with US-192 eastbound or about half a mile further up "27" is a "strip-mall" (as they are called) containing a Winn-Dixie supermarket, a Post Office, dentist and dry cleaners. Both of these supermarkets have pharmacies and bakeries.

N.B. Post Offices are few and far between. There is one here, one in Celebration and one in Haynes City.

It has also been pointed out to me, that if you have the correct stamps - available in supermarkets - you can pop your mail in the mailbox outside the house and put the red flag up and the US Mail will collect it. It does work, too!

There is a small Goodings supermarket and Eckert pharmacy (both 24 hour) along with other smaller shops at Maingate, about 10 minutes away along US-192. A couple of new drug stores are being built near to the house. One, about a mile past Publix on US-192, will be open 24 hours. The other is only a couple of minutes from the house, south on US-27.

Then, of course, there's Wal*Mart. The nearest one to the house is just this side of Haynes City, south down US-27 about 13 minutes away. The other one is along US-192, next to Mediaeval Times, about 25 minutes away. This one has a branch of Macdonalds in one corner! Both of these are open 24 hours. These shops sell everything - clothes, car accessories, toys, food, electrical goods, furnishings etc. They'll even service your car for you.

There are also several discount shopping Malls. Kissimmee Designer Outlet on US-192, Lake Buena Vista Factory Outlet, Belz Designer Outlet Centre and biggest of all, in the USA, is Belz Factory Outlet World (with 170 outlets, spread over two malls and 4 annexes) at the top of International Drive. These Malls have shops from Nike, Reebok, Addidas, Casio, Gap, Saks, Bose, Levi, Timberland, Caterpillar, Calvin Klein, Samsonite, 7 West, Paper Chase and just about anyone else you can think of.

There is a good Joe Muggs coffee shop in Books-a-Million at the corner of International Dr. and Kirkman Rd. before you reach Belz. Where else can you while away hours browsing through books and magazines, drinking coffee and eating a blueberry muffin? Where else? Well there's Borders, Barnes and Noble bookshops and others. But our favourite is still Books-a-Million and their new store is even bigger than the old one!

There are also several "proper" shopping malls.

• The Florida Mall on Sand Lake Road, is probably the largest, it has six Department Stores and about 200 other shops but is rather "touristy".
• The Lakeland Mall is located just north of I-4 at junction 18, halfway to Tampa. This is our favourite since it isn't too busy and there are plenty of other shops nearby eg. Wal*Mart, Borders, Home Depot, Toys-R-Us, Pier 1 Imports, BestBuy.com etc.
• The Eagle Ridge Mall, about 10 miles south of Haynes City. This has a 12 screen cinema complex incorporated.
• The West Oaks Mall is a new one on West Colonial Drive. North on US-27 to Clermont. Turn right on to US-50 East (West Colonial Drive). then just carry on for about 15-20 minutes. It's on the left.

Finally. Don't forget the Disney Marketplace/West Side/Pleasure Island Complex, which has amongst others, the biggest Disney shop in the World, a Lego shop, Virgin Megastore, 24 screen AMC cinema, a Rainforest Cafe, MacDonalds, Planet Hollywood, lots of smaller shops, live music shows and five nightclubs.

Places to Swim.

Our favourite beach is Clearwater Beach, across Tampa Bay on the Gulf of Mexico. It's a beautifully wide, gently sloping, safe beach, with fine, clean, white sand (like icing sugar!). The water is usually quite warm. It is constantly patrolled by Surf Guards with various cruises, para sailing, jet skiing facilities etc. available either on the beach or from the nearby pier. There are also many small shops, bars, cafes, fast food outlets etc. along the road running at the back of the beach.Parking here is available on-street (parking meters) or there are several, easily reached, large car parks available. N.B. This beach and the car parks are very busy at weekends, when the entire population of Tampa appears to go there.

The only other Gulf Coast beach we have used is at Indian Rocks which is a few miles further south than Clearwater Beach. This is much quieter and much less developed. The beach here is generally backed by houses, with free parking areas and beach access roughly every 200 yards or thereabouts.This beach is a coarser sand, but far better if you want a bit of peace and quiet.

Highly recommended by others is the beach at St. Peterburg on the west shore of Tampa Bay.

On the Atlantic Coast we've only ever tried Cocoa Beach just south of Cape Canaveral. The beaches here are quite quiet with convenient (meter) parking. The water here is several degrees colder than on the Gulf Coast! The beach is gently sloping and backed by sand dunes. There are all the usual shops and fast food outlets nearby. The (in)famous Ron Jon's Surf Shop is also located here. You will find adverts, posters, hoardings, TV adverts, bumper stickers and anything else you can think of, advertising this establishment, all over Florida. Even if you don't buy anything, you can always say you have seen it!

If you like water parks, Disney has several and Wet 'n Wild, Water Mania and Adventure Island in Tampa are all highly recommended.

Best of all, of course, is the private pool that comes with the house. This can be heated, if you wish, for an extra charge. Ideal for lounging about, sunbathing, outdoor dining and even swimming.

Places to Golf.

Florida is, of course, well known as a golfer's paradise. it is estimated that there are about 250 golf courses in Central Florida and some 25 of these are within 30 minutes drive of our house.

There are excellent golf courses everywhere. The nearest golf course is about a quarter of a mile away across US-27, behind the Highland's Reserve development. This is a new 18 hole course and the fees are very reasonable. For children and adults alike there are numerous "golf" courses which are in fact, Crazy Golf and very good most of these are too! Our kids love them!!

Yet again, money off coupons are available in several books, notably SEE Orlando*Kissimmee. As a rule, these are worth up to 20% off or $10 per person per round, depending on the course.

Generally golf is cheaper on weekdays and cheaper still in the afternoon. Specific details are given below for a number of the nearest "proper" golf courses:-

Course Name	Location/Directions	Details	Fees	Phone
Highland's Reserve	Quarter mile north west of Hampton Lakes.	18 Hole/Par 72 6,673 yds	M - Th $25 after 14:00 $20 F - Sun $49 after 14:00 $45	1-877-508-4653
Southern Dunes	South down US-27 to Haynes City. Turn left towards Walmart at the traffic lights at the Haynes City limits and you are there.	18 Hole/Par 72		1-800-632-6400
Diamond Back	South on US-27 about 15 miles. Prices include a buggy. Clubs for hire at $35.	18 Hole/Par 72	M - Th $50 after Noon $35 F - Sun $60 after Noon $45	941-421-0437
Ridgewood Lakes	6 miles south on US-27.	18 Hole/Par 72		1-800-684-8800 941-424-8688
Walt Disney World	Six separate courses at various locations within Walt Disney World. Bonnett Creek, Magic Kingdom Magnolia, Magic Kingdom Palm, Lake Buena Vista, Osprey Ridge and Magic Kingdom Oak.	5 x 18 Hole/Par 72 +1 x 9 Hole/Par 36		407-939-4653 407-824-2270
Orange Lake Resort and Country Club	A semi-private course. Take out temporary membership.	18 Hole/Par 72		407-239-0000
Orange County National Golf Center	About 10 miles north of the Hampton Lakes on County Road 545 north.	18 Hole/ Par 72		407-656-2626
Falcon's Fire Golf Club	Three miles east of Walt Disney World on US-192.	18 Hole/Par 72		407-239-5445
Celebration Golf Club	East of intersection 25 on I-4	18 Hole/Par 72		407-566-4653

Not being golfers ourselves, we cannot comment further on how good any of the local courses may or may not be! Email us with your thoughts on any of the above and we will try to incorporate your comments.

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