Florida

We love Florida, it has been a favourite of ours since our very first visit back in 2004.  Anyone who knows us will know how much we love visiting and we try to go as often as we can.  It started as just me and hubby and then when Lily arrived our holidays to Florida changed and became a brand new experience for us.

I’ve had so many friends deciding to take a holiday there and I would regularly share our recommendations and before I knew it an hour had passed by and they had an itinerary in hand!  So, in true Fabulous Places style, I thought I would share our favourite places with you… it’s only taken me a few years to get around to it!  If you’re planning a trip my post may help to add a few extra things that you’ll love and show you that there’s so much to do.

Firstly, we hire a car for the duration of our trip, always!  Having a car gives you the flexibility and freedin to explore, but if you don’t want to drive you can use Ubers and still reach a lot of the places in this post.

We have flown into into both Sanford and Orlando Airports. Orlando is closer to action, but Sanford is smaller so it’s quicker to navigate, grab your bags and around a 50 minute drive to Disney World down the I4. Both have their pros and cons, but either are a great choice and give you more options with flight from the UK.

Accommodation
There are so many options! We’ve stayed in various Disney hotels, we tried staying outside of Disney property at the bottom of International Drive and we’ve also stayed in a private villa with a pool (definitely one to go for if you can!). All have their benefits, but if you want to be close to the parks, do your research!  With Lily, we always choose to stay at a Disney hotel as she loves the experience, Magic Bands, evening cinema and the themed pools. Staying in a Villa is a great choice too and I would highly recommend it, but you will generally be located at least 45 minutes drive from the parks, so that’s something to factor into your day.  There are some amazing hotels in the area too and Trip Adviser is my go to when it comes to finding the best one for you.  My tip is to always read reviews for the hotels, look at the Traveller Photos and research… as much as you won’t be in the room for too long, having a sanctuary to return to each day is a big plus!

Disney
I have to start with the Disney, it’s the reason Orlando is what it is today and why so many people venture to that area of Florida. I like to call it a little bubble of happy… you can’t not be happy when you’re in Disney, it’s the “happiest place on earth” and if you’re open to embracing it for what it’s meant to be, then you’ll love it too! Since our first visit, we have seen so many changes from new areas in the parks, new park names, the introduction of Magic Bands and so many new rides.  I remember when Hollywood Studios was MGM and the most recent change is the transformation that was Downtown Disney into the pretty epic Disney Springs.

If you book to stay at a Disney Hotel you’ll receive Magic Bands when you check in… these are your entry tickets, room key, how you can spend money and where your Fast Passes are stored. Fast Passes are one of our favourite park features… if you stay on Disney property you can access your Fast Passes and choose your favourite rides on the app approx 30 days before you travel. A Fast Pass is a different queue and generally gets you onto a ride much quicker than the regular queue. You’re allowed to book 3 a day and when you’ve been on all three rides you can select another Fast Pass from the app on your mobile. Don’t leave it late to book your Fast Passes, doing it once you arrive on your holiday will limit your choices and the more popular rides won’t be available to you. Even if you don’t know what to choose, always book your full allocation for each day as you can change them once you’re there.

The first thing we noticed during our very first visit was just how big Disney World is! The parking lots are on a grand scale to house thousands of cars, you take a Disney Transportation Bus from the hotels to each park. You need to make a note of where you’re parked… we take photos of the area and lane we are parked. They also have trams to take you from the car park to the Main Entrance.  It’s always really difficult to describe how big it is and only when you’re there can you appreciate how much land it covers.

When it comes to food, I have to be honest and say we don’t eat too much in the parks. They do have a great selection of places to eat, but we like to have a good breakfast and then a light bite in the park followed by dinner in the evening at Cheesecake Factory, The Capital Grille & P.F. Changs to name a few. We haven’t visited when the free dining plans have been on offer, but I’m sure we will at some point as we’ve heard great things about it and it includes so many options all over the property including Starbucks.

My Disney Top Tips:

• Try to avoid the holiday seasons… going during the peak visitor periods will impact on your experience. There are so many resources where you can see the predicted crowd levels to plan the best time for you. Here’s a good calendar for 2019.  The parks are much busier when there are local school holidays, cheerleading championships, national holidays etc.
• Book your Fast Passes as soon as you get access to them!
• Take a photo of where you have parked (zone and lane number). The parking lots are HUGE!
• Don’t take a bag into the parks unless you need to and this is for various reasons. There are separate lanes at the main entrances for those with no bags… all bags are checked by security and it can take a while at busy time.
• Try all the Disney themed snacks… they have an amazing frozen banana covered in chocolate and nuts which is one of my faves. I’ve lost count how many I’ve eaten! There are also special treats all over the parks, Mickey shaped waffles, pretzels, candy apples and you have to “try the Grey Stuff” in Be Our Guest in Magic Kingdom, “it’s delicious!”
• Play crazy golf at Winter Summerland – so much fun!

My favourite Disney rides: Flight of Pandora (amazing!!!), Toy Story Mania, Space Mountain, Expedition Everest & Tower of Terror.

Disney Springs
I’ve given Disney Springs its own header because it deserves it! What was Downtown Disney is now a destination for everything food, shopping and entertainment. There’s a great selection of shops including Anthropologie, Sugarboo, Free People to name a few. Here you’ll find the famous Ghirardelli where you can order the most amazingly delicious ice cream Sundays. We really like Blaze, a super fast pizza eatery… saying that, there are so many great places to choose from for a bite to eat including Sprinkles Cupcakes & The Ganachery where you can buy a pretty amazing s’more and watch it being made for you too.  If you’re planning to head down there for a bite to eat during busy periods, I recommend booking in advance to avoid a lengthy wait time.

I can’t explain how much it has changed from Downtwon Disney… it’s all positive changes and has made for a great destination for us to head to in the evenings, but we were so disappointed that they closed Disney Quest (Hubby more so than me!).

Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure
We love it there! We especially love the The Wizarding World of Harry Potter… if you know me, you know I love Harry Potter and this area of the park is where you’ll find me. It truly is amazing and the attention to detail is second to none.  Over the years it’s been extended to connect Universal with Islands of Adventure.

The entrance to both parks is via City Walk which is where we go for lunch.  We tend to go to Red Oven Pizza and Menchies is Lily’s favourite for frozen yoghurt with all the toppings (literally!).

My favourite rides in Universal & Islands of Adventure: Escape from Gringotts, Men in Black, Despicable Me & Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. A special mention for Jimmy Fallon’s Race Through New York, which is great fun, even though we don’t watch it and don’t quite get all the references, it’s a really fun ride!

Away from the Parks…

Mall at Millenia
A favourite stop off of ours is the Mall at Millenia.  We visit a few times during a two week stay, the restaurants are very good and the shopping is even better.  Shops include Anthropologie, Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrell to name a few of my favourites.  There’s also Cheesecake Factory (don’t be put off by the name if cheesecake isn’t your thing! That’s just part of what they offer). This is one of our favourite places to eat, their menu is huge and each dish is pretty amazing.  Some of my favourites include the Thai Lettuce Leaves, Chicken Madeira, Steak Diane and Evelyn’s Favourite Pasta. The brown bread you receive on the table is legendary!  The cheesecakes are amazing with pages of flavours to choose from!  Anyway, enough about the restaurant… but definitely put that one on your list!

Outside the Mall is a West Elm, Krispy Kreme & a large Super Target (perfect for a bit of American style food shopping) which is where we go for park snacks and candy. We love to browse Super Target, especially the food where they seem to have everything in every flavour!

Winter Park
One of my favourite places to visit.  Winter Park is just north of Orlando.  A beautiful little town with cute shops, tree lined streets and is home to Rifle Paper Co. where you’ll find their studio and a shop full of all their goodies.  On Saturdays they have a great farmers market so we try to plan our visit then. It’s definitely worth planning a trip that falls on a Saturday so you can soak up the full atmosphere.  There’s a scenic boat tour that takes you down the chain of little canals and onto lakes, where you’ll pass beautiful houses with gardens backing onto the water, so pretty. If you have a car and happy to venture out, this is a top recommendation from me!

Whole Foods
If you know, you know! This is an American grocery store with a difference! They offer an amazing range of fruit and veg, smoothies, wholesome groceries, hot and cold food to eat in their canteen area, great coffee, an amazing cake counter and delicious sushi.  We always pop in to grab a few bits including my all time comfort food selection of a latte to go with a Banana & Walnut Muffin.  Whole Foods is located just off the I4 Sand Lake Road junction 74a. We vary where we eat during our stay and here is where we go for a light bite, coffee, car snacks etc.

West Coast – Hyde Park Village
As part of our trip we spend one weekend at the beach and after trying both the East and West Coasts we quickly decided the West Coast was more for us.   We time our visit so it falls at a weekend when the parks area busier.  The East Coast is a little closer, but we love the St Pete Beach area, the sea is warm and the drive over makes it a great couple of days of exploring.  We head off early for a pancake breakfast stop at either the Market Street Cafe in Celebration or Cracker Barrel.  An hour later we arrive at Hyde Park Village, where you’ll find shops, a farmers market and a great range of places to eat.  They have fab independent coffee shop called Buddy Brew Coffee.  We like to have lunch at Bartaco where we fill our table with little dishes of Mexican food. There’s also Anthropologie, Paper Source, Sprinkles, West Elm and Pottery Barn along with lots of other small independent shops to browse.

This area is in development and growing into a fab destination. They have a farmers market too, if you’re lucky enough to plan your visit when one is running.

West Coast – St. Pete Beach area
Our favourite beach area, the sand is almost white, the sea is clear and warm and the streets are lined with palm trees. There’s a much slower pace of life over on the west coast and you can feel that as soon as you arrive. We grab some picnic food and head to the beach where we spend the afternoon swimming and recharging our batteries.  The sea is beautifully clear with fish and pelicans swimming around you.

If you travel a little further up the coastal road you’ll arrive at a cute little spot called Treasure Island, shortly followed by John’s Pass Village. If we have time, we’ll stop here for ice cream, a bite to eat and some dolphin spotting. There are lots of eateries to choose from in the area. This area changes each time we visit, lots of money is being invested into and that comes  with lots of new places to stop off and explore. There are so many gorgeous beaches and areas of natural beauty along the palm tree lined coastal road.  We tend to book a hotel to extend the visit which I recommend if it’s your first time there, you’ll want to see it all and a day just won’t be enough.

Celebration
Celebration was somewhere we found out about over 10 years ago from a local we got chatting to in a restaurant.  Originally developed by The Walt Disney Company, Celebration is a picture perfect Floridian town with beautiful houses, manicured lawns and the prettiest town centre next to a large lake.  We always head to Main Street Cafe for brunch at least a couple of times while we’re in Orlando.  The coffee is on tap, the french toast is great and pancakes for littles ones come Mickey shaped.  We walk off our brunch by taking a stroll around the area.

You can hire bikes to explore the area fully or simply walk around the lakes and residential streets.  We have visited a few times close to Halloween and the porches are dressed to impress, so much detail and time goes into them.  They also have an annual Oktoberfest where they have coloured tissue paper leaves falling from the trees, which is a really lovely experience to be part of. There’s a lovely selection of independent shops including a pretty impressive pet shop/bakery, cinema, chocolate & ice cream parlour and a handful of gift and interior shops.

I could go on and on about Florida, it’s a challenge to know where to stop, so I’ll leave it here for now.  If you have any questions about flights, when to visit, which car hire company to use etc etc, please do get in touch!  I’m always happy to offer our advice and a recommendation from someone can make planning your trip much simpler.

My overall tip would be to venture a little and explore what the area has to offer… hopefully my post has inspired you! Spending two full weeks in the parks can become a little overwhelming, so add a few little breaks into your itinerary.  The parks are amazing, but once you know all the other little gems to visit then you’ll have a pretty special vacation in the Sunshine State!

Deb x