Orlando, Florida - The Sunshine State

One of the things that has to be considered when going to Florida is time of year and weather. Most of my trips there have been in the summer months of June, July, and August. This time of year tends to be quite warm, but with a little thought it can be tolerable. Also at this time of year it will rain almost every day at some point. Usually in the afternoon between 1 and 3 pm you can expect a cloud burst of some type. Although most of the showers don't last more than 30 minutes they can still dump a lot of water in this time. Having a cheap fold up rain parka is almost a necessity to seeing any of the larger attractions. This way you will not be wasting time standing under a canopy or in a line to purchase one when it starts to rain. Late summer you have to be mindful as this hurricane season, and they spring up quickly if you don't pay some attention to the local weather forcasts.

The sun is another thing that has to be thought of. If you are not used of being in the sun a lot this is not the place to start just because you are on vacation. Sun screen is a must down here. I don't know of anybody that enjoys being burnt to a crisp. Or anyone that enjoys it no matter how much they tell you it's not a big deal. Another thing associated with the sun is is heat stroke. It can come on in a flash. Even the people that live there have to be very careful of it. Try to drink a lot of water, or lemonade, or Gatorade. Never drink a lot of soda with caffeine in it as this will bring on heat stroke even faster. One of the most important things to watch for is if a person stops sweating when everyone else is. This is a sure sign that the body is becoming dehydrated. Another way to ward off heat stroke is to wear a hat. This protects the head from the direct rays of the sun which can literally cook the brain.

Now it's on to the fun!! What to do when you get there. Well that all depends on your tastes, and where you are in the state. There are thousands of things to do. Where you start is up to you, but for my family it's Walt Disney World. For us it is one of the best places to be on vacation. We have yet to have a bad time there. There is just so much to do there one can never get bored. I think the first thing you have to address is where you are going to stay. We have stayed both on the grounds and off and both have things that have to be considered. Staying off grounds can certainly be a whole lot cheaper as far as room prices go. But then there is getting into the parks. Now a lot of hotels in the area have there own shuttle buses that they operate, and that may be fine if it is not a large hotel with a lot of people all wanting to come and go at the same time. This never seems to be the case though. It just seems that everybody wants to get there, or leave at about the same time. As always there are a lot of hot tired people, most of whom have children that just want to leave as soon as possible. So you say to yourself I'll just drive in my self and avoid all the hassle. Unless you have driven in a major city at rush hour this is not for the faint of heart, or the hard to follow road sign crowd. It is a mad rush to get there in the morning, and I don't even know how to explain it at night except to say that I won't do it again if I can help it.

Let's get specific now and look at time and costs involved with driving in. No matter how close to the main gate that your hotel says you are, you are at least 5 miles from the entrance to any of the parks. One has to keep an eye on road signs all the time as you may have to change lanes quickly to reach the correct destination. Parking is around $8 or $9 per car, and you certainly don't want to forget where you parked the car. With a parking lot that can hold most other amusement parks in it a lost car is no fun! There are little trams that take you to the monorail, or park entrance depending on the park you are at. Make sure that you have your tickets ready when you get there, or you will be standing in line again.

The biggest, and most obvious, recent change involves security. Now, if you bring any kind of bag to any of the parks, you must go through security and have them inspect your bag. At peak times, the lines can be rather long. The only thing close to a Fastpass is not bringing a bag, which lets you bypass the security lines. I can understand why they do this, and I didn't hear too many complaints, except at Animal Kingdom, where the security lines were exceptionally long when we were trying to go through, right around the park's opening time. It was interesting to note the varying degrees of the bag checks. Some of the guards just took a quick glance into each bag. Others would make the guest take out and open things like glasses cases or camera cases. The guards could not reach into the bags, so some of them would ask the guest to move things around so that they could better see what was underneath. How much each bag was searched did not appear to be dependent on the time of day, or size of the crowd, but rather on the whim of each guard. I would guess that the bag searches will be around for quite a while. Personaly i'm glad that they have them.

This is where the fun begins. There is so many things to see at all of the parks that there is no way that you will ever see it all in one day. Don't fool yourself by planning less than one day at each park, because with standing in line to see things, you won't see much. Even if you get the Fast passes you are limited as to when you can get another. Depending on the ride it may be an hour before you can get another. Even if it is for a different ride. You may even get a bonus pass to a different ride so you have something to do in between. If you have small children plan to take a break some time during the day, and let them rest. You will be better off for it. My family has over the last 18 years, and 8 visits have a routine that we kind of stick to. On certain days each park opens early for people that stay on the grounds. That's an extra hour to enjoy some of the rides that you might otherwise bypass to get on the more popular ones. We go to that park early, the rides are easy to get on, and without waiting a long time. We also try to leave about 2 or 3 pm and go back to the hotel to rest, or take a swim. This is a god send when it is hot out. You feel so refreshed after a swim. Then it is off to dinner somewhere. We have our favorites that we try to visit every year, and we always try something new every year. The best place to do this is in Epcots World Showcase. In each of the countries is some type of restaurant that serves that countries cuisine. We sometimes will have food from more than one place by getting a meal, or snack, and sharing it to see if we like it. Just remember to save desert for France. The French Pastry Shop is to die for. Another option is to dine outside the parks. There are hundreds of places to eat. Something to fit every budget, and taste. Then it is back to the parks. Many of the rides that were hard to get on to early in the day are now easy. In some cases you can just walk on with no lines. If you have never been there before make sure that you take in the nightly fireworks shows, or light parade. They are something to be seen.