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Published: November 22nd 2010
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After an unexpected two day flight delay we eventually arrived in the Sunshine State that is Florida and what better way to begin our road trip there than to begin with the home of Disney: Orlando. It was a welcomed change from the generic rice and bean diet of central america and we would be lying if we said that we werent instantly swept away by the consumerism of the place.
Every shopping centre/ plaza you go into seems to be competing with the worlds greatest palaces and they have almost every brand you've heard of and more, often at discount prices. One mall was literally about the size of Edinburgh!
However, we werent really there to shop we were there for magical kingdoms, seaworlds and universal studios.
And where better to start that Harry Potter World... It was actually better than we imagined, we have both read the books and are fans but wouldnt go as far as to say fanatics. But if you are a huge fan of Harry Potter then you would definately get your kicks from the Islands of Adventures take on it. And if your not a fan, I promise you will
still be blown away. They have every little detail down to a fine art. While we wandered around the shops having fun trying on the outfits and playing with the toys and sweets modelled on the books, you would need to be a serious fan to fork out the $10 for a chocolate wand, or let a real wooden wand 'pick you' (based on your birthday) for a not so measly $50. You could also buy the full hogwarts uniform but again only for the serious fans with the tunic coming in at $100, a scarf $40 and a hat $30. The rides were absolutely awesome and we only waited 40 minutes for the castle ride (worth it). Go any later than the morning and you could be expecting a wait of 3 hrs + !!
The rest of Islands of Adventures was also amazing with Suess Landing, Superhero World and Jurassic Park keeping us on our toes all day.
We enjoyed Universal Studios too although I think it needs to consider a revamp sometime soon as the rides are a little dated (think of the Jaws ride circa 1980, same ride since the movie came out! Not
so scary).
Orlando is a definite recommendation, there is so much to do there that everyone can come away happy, although chances are everyone will also come away very skint. This is one place we would definately head to back to as we should have definately scheduled more time there.
We stayed at the Liki Tiki Resort in a fully furnished apartment. The place has its own entertainment and waterpark and our apartment came with every facility we would have at home (inc. washer and dryer, even a smoothie maker!) This place was so reasonably priced, we would highly reccommend it to everyone. It was very near International Drive but we would suggest hiring a car for any trip to Orlando as it was by far the easiest and most common method of getting around there.
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