Orlando, Florida Pt.1

We’ve both been to Orlando a few times, but not for about 6 years. Since then there have been some significant changes (I.e. HARRY POTTER WORLD!) And I’d been counting down till we could finally go! There’s so much in Orlando, and we went to each park a couple of times, so I’m just going to summarise our favourite bits from each park (and what we did when we weren’t at theme parks.)

Disney’s Epcot

Epcot is our least favourite Disney Park. This is mostly because of the lack of big and scary rides. But we headed there first as it was the International Flower and Garden Festival. After a long drive it was nice relaxing afternoon walking around the park. The flowers were fantastic and brilliantly done. My favourite was the Peter Pan ones, and James’ was Beauty and the Beast. They now have a walk through Butterfly Enclosure too which was nice, and it was the first one we’ve been to where it’s outdoors heated naturally (as opposed to an indoor tropical house!) We did go on one ride that we couldn’t resist, and that was the Finding Nemo Ride. Who can say no to riding in a clam-shell?! We’ll have to go back again though as they’re opening a Frozen Ride soon!

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

This safari park is really well done, and you can’t fault Disney on anything here. The animals have wonderful enclosures, and they all looked happy and healthy. You even get to go out and see them on “safari.” Unlike some zoo’s we’ve been to where the animals are indoors or hiding because it’s cold, everyone was out enjoying the sunshine! There’s a fantastic variety of animals here, and some awesome rides. Our favourites were Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Kilimanjaro Safari’s and It’s Tough to be a Bug! The park gets really busy though, and we missed the River Rapids because of this… So I recommend taking full advantage of the FastPass, and booking them online in advance. They now stay open later in the evening and have a night show like the other parks, they were doing the final preparations when we were there… But if it’s anything like Disney’s evening shows in the other parks I’m sure it’s fantastic!

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Last time I went to Hollywood Studios it was known as MGM Studios! It’s also grown since I last visited. They’re working on a Toy Story Section, and I think they are looking to expand the Star Wars section too. Some of my favourite rides are here, and I couldn’t wait to introduce James to them! Fortunately he also loved the Hollywood Hotel Tower of Terror, and The Rock ‘n’Roller Coaster! We also loved Toy Story’s Midway Mania, and made time to watch a couple of their shows (Beauty and the Beast and the Little Mermaid.) They’ve updated the Star Tours ride so that it includes the characters from the latest Star Wars film, and they have light saber lessons outside which were cool to watch. Every-time we went to Hollywood Studios we seemed to get caught in Orlando’s sporadic storms and torrential downpours, so our time was cut short here. The only sad thing was that the giant Mickey Mouse Fantasia hat has now gone!

Disney’s Magic Kingdom

Everyone’s favourite Disney Park! There’s just something about walking through the gates into Main St USA and seeing Cinderella’s Castle that’s just so magical and exciting! Unlike the other parks, we always find ourselves going on every ride here (carousel and all!) We gorged on giant turkey legs and funnel cake, screamed on roller-coasters and sang to our favourite Disney songs. Magic Kingdom stays open till midnight, so we were also able to go on rides at the end of the night with next-to-no queuing. It was really cool to be riding Splash Mountain at 11.30pm with no-one on it, and they would let you ride again and again! They’ve also changed the evening entertainment and the Wishes Nighttime Show is amazing. The light show is living art, and the fireworks are spectacular. It’s the best way to end a day at the happiest place on earth. Here’s a link to a video of the show if you’d like to see it

 

Disney Springs

When we last visited this was known as Downtown Disney, but after extending the area it has now been renamed to Disney Springs. There’s still the huge Lego and Disney World and Christmas store, as well as some new stores and restaurant. The T-Rex restaurant is great fun, with animatronic dinosaurs too keep you entertained whilst you eat. We sat at the bar underneath a giant moving octopus! It gets really busy, so I recommend booking in advance. They also have a great AMC Cinema and Disney Quest which is a indoor interactive theme park, which is a great way to spend a rainy afternoon (admission is included with certain ticket types, otherwise there is an additional fee.)