Some of you may know from my Twitter or Instagram that I have been away to Florida with my boyfriend! The reason I have titled this travel journal as Part 1 is because this I am also going back to America in September, to New York for my 21st Birthday! I am going to pick up on my 'Travel Journal' series by telling you all about my visit to Orlando, Florida where I went to the Universal Parks, Disney and did lots of other fun and exciting things across the water!
Day 1
Well technically Day 1 isn't a part of the holiday, we were only traveling to the Airport. I had to get 3 trains from my home town to Manchester Airport, and when we finally arrived we still had to head to our overnight hotel before our early morning flight. We stayed at a Best Western Hotel a couple of miles away from the airport and it was actually really lovely for the price we paid! We had our dinner in the hotel and I had my last alcoholic drinks before going out to America- because I am still 20 and not allowed to drink over there, and then went to bed at 9:30.
Well technically Day 1 isn't a part of the holiday, we were only traveling to the Airport. I had to get 3 trains from my home town to Manchester Airport, and when we finally arrived we still had to head to our overnight hotel before our early morning flight. We stayed at a Best Western Hotel a couple of miles away from the airport and it was actually really lovely for the price we paid! We had our dinner in the hotel and I had my last alcoholic drinks before going out to America- because I am still 20 and not allowed to drink over there, and then went to bed at 9:30.
Day 2
We checked out at 7am and went straight to the airport check in. We were buzzing when we were offered an upgrade for extra legroom seats, of course we wern't going to say no as we were on a long haul flight. We wanted to be as comfortable as possible! I then got to have some fun in duty free, buying breakfast and taking forever and a day to decide which MAC lipstick to buy; much to my lad's horror. I gave my parents a final phone call goodbye and then it was time to board the plane. I was so glad that we opted for extra legroom seats! However I was not impressed with the choice of films available that you didn't have to pay for. Well they had Toy Story 3 but even this was a disaster- I began crying and the flight attendant had to ask me if I was ok because I was in tears at the film! For a 9 hour flight, it went over fairly fast. We then got abit lost trying to find the Orlando Airport exit and our transfers to our hotel, but we got there in the end and were at the hotel around 5pm local time when it started pouring down with rain! But it was hot so we didn't mind. By this time I was so tired, when we went out for food I couldn't even stomach a bowl of chips. We had an early night in the hotel to prepare for our following day at Universal Studios!
We checked out at 7am and went straight to the airport check in. We were buzzing when we were offered an upgrade for extra legroom seats, of course we wern't going to say no as we were on a long haul flight. We wanted to be as comfortable as possible! I then got to have some fun in duty free, buying breakfast and taking forever and a day to decide which MAC lipstick to buy; much to my lad's horror. I gave my parents a final phone call goodbye and then it was time to board the plane. I was so glad that we opted for extra legroom seats! However I was not impressed with the choice of films available that you didn't have to pay for. Well they had Toy Story 3 but even this was a disaster- I began crying and the flight attendant had to ask me if I was ok because I was in tears at the film! For a 9 hour flight, it went over fairly fast. We then got abit lost trying to find the Orlando Airport exit and our transfers to our hotel, but we got there in the end and were at the hotel around 5pm local time when it started pouring down with rain! But it was hot so we didn't mind. By this time I was so tired, when we went out for food I couldn't even stomach a bowl of chips. We had an early night in the hotel to prepare for our following day at Universal Studios!
Day 3
Universal Studios! We started the day early with breakfast at the infamous I-Hop on International Drive, then made our way to Universal! First ride we set our eyes on was Hollywood Rip Ride Rock It! A rollercoaster which does a full 90 degree incline (going up vertical!). I really didn't have the balls to go on this big rollercoaster straight away, and figured that we would go on the rides furthest away from the park entrance as the queues would be less busy; top tip there! As I had already visited Florida theme parks before, around 7 years ago, some things still remained the same; The Mummy, The Simpsons Movie ride, E.T. There were afew new attractions being built while we were there but the one new attraction that I was most excited about seeing was the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
Universal Studios! We started the day early with breakfast at the infamous I-Hop on International Drive, then made our way to Universal! First ride we set our eyes on was Hollywood Rip Ride Rock It! A rollercoaster which does a full 90 degree incline (going up vertical!). I really didn't have the balls to go on this big rollercoaster straight away, and figured that we would go on the rides furthest away from the park entrance as the queues would be less busy; top tip there! As I had already visited Florida theme parks before, around 7 years ago, some things still remained the same; The Mummy, The Simpsons Movie ride, E.T. There were afew new attractions being built while we were there but the one new attraction that I was most excited about seeing was the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
There was a real sense of British Pride seeing such an insane amount of land and money spent to showcase Harry Potter, you don't realise how much the Americans love it until you go there! The best thing about the whole concept is that it is spread out over 2 parks; with Diagon Alley in Universal Studios and a direct link/ride with takes you to Hogsmeade which is based in the sister park, Islands of Adventure. My favourite part about Diagon Alley was that you literally had to walk behind a wall to get to it; you could very easily miss the entrance to the whole Harry Potter world if you walk past the wall, and we nearly did ourselves until I decided to be nosy and follow all the crowds going behind the wall and then, ta-dah! I couldn't get over the attention to detail that Universal had put into making Diagon Alley so realistic! And something which I thought was really cool was that you could buy the wands in Olivanders from any character, but if you purchased an interactive wand you could cast spells on the shop windows and something magical would happen! This was a real novelty to youngsters in particular, and there was a new ride called Escape From Gringots, however when we were there the ride was broken down so we were unable to go on it which was dissapointing. The whole place though- spectacular! We didn't head over to Hogsmeade via Hogwarts Express on this day as we were saving that and Islands of Adventure for the next day.
Day 4
After a quick breakfast in the hotel, we decided to walk over to Islands of Adventure... Yes, walk! After 20 minutes of sweating in the hot Floridian sun, the first thing we did was walk straight through the Marvel Superhero section of the park and head straight to the water rides; more specifically the River Rapids to cool down. After cooling off we returned back to the Marvel section of the park and I was heartbroken to find out that The Hulk rollercoaster was under construction and it wouldn't be open for us to ride in our visit (just another reason to go back soon then...). Once again, because the queues were so long near the front of the park we went towards the back of the park and went on the rides there which had lower queue times. Some things hadn't changed, The Cat In The Hat and Jurassic Park, but once again, we were intrigued buy The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and this time, Hogsmeade. The attention to detail was just the same, if not even better than Diagon Alley, but there are several more rides here than in Diagon Alley. A new mini-rollercoaster, a Quidditch motion simulator, and the Dragon Challange; which was previously the Dueling Dragons ride but re-designed to fit in with the Harry Potter theme. We also took some time out in our day to have some of the famous Butter Beer that was being served in several outlets in Harry Potter World; as well as taking the Hogwarts Express back over to Universal Studios to see what it was like to travel back to Platform 9 and 3/4 and back again on the return journey. Unfortunately while we were there it started to rain very heavily, which meant that a lot of rides had to be shut for safety reasons. But there was a brand new ride that had just been built based on King Kong, throughout the day there was stewards next to the ride to answer any questions about when the ride will be open. They explained that they didn't have a set date for the opening of the ride but it should be soon; but when we were walking around the park in the pouring rain, a steward came up to us and asked if we wanted to be a part of the technical rehearsal of the new ride! Of course we wern't going to say no! After queueing under a shelter, we went on the King Kong ride which involved around 30 people being placed in a jungle jeep and driven through the jungle which was a 3D motion simulator; think of the SpiderMan ride or the Transformers ride in Universal but change the vehicle you are placed in. Very similar, to be honest, after the long queue wait it was a fairly anti-climactic ride. But it killed time and the rain had stopped so we went for food in City Walk before heading back to the hotel.
Day 5
We previously decided that we wanted this day to be fairly relaxed after 2 long days in the theme parks, and the 2 following days being pre-booked to visit Disney. We spoke to our holiday rep who gave us some advice on how to get to Disney Parks when we arrived in Florida; so we decided on this day to visit Disney Springs after having a big breakfast at Dennys. Disney Springs was just the perfect shopping destination, everything you wanted was there; and it was stunning! It was fair to say that I had alot of fun looking in all the shops, and then I found Sephora... CANDY LAND!!! I accidentally spent over $200 on make up (yes a haul will be uploaded soon...), who do I think I am?! After spending pretty much all of my money in my purse, there wasn't much more that we could really do as I had no more money. We tried to get into a cinema screening of Finding Dory, which is yet to be released in the UK, but all showings were sold out; so we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel and grab some food before another early start.
Day 6
DISNEY LAND!!! I may have been slightly excited about visiting Magic Kingdom. One thing I always wanted was to visit this place with my boyfriend because it is just so magical, its where your dreams come true, man! We downloaded the app My Disney Experience where we were able to get 3 fast pass tickets for free for any rides of our choice in a particular time slot- I highly reccommend anyone to get this app for your phone as these fast passes were a life saver, as the park was so busy! Idealy we should have had another day at Magic Kingdom because there was so much to do there, so we just tried to do as much as we could in the time that we had; a lot of what was there was very similar, I suppose they don't really change Magic Kingdom too much because it the attractions are so timeless. I have to say, the 'ride' that I thoroughly enjoyed was the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, the beauty of this show is that every one is different because it is all based on the audience as they are the stars of the show. We stayed in Magic Kingdom for a good 12 hours and stayed for the fireworks at the end aswell, which was truly remarkable. It was so cute to be there with my man with his arms wrapped around me, just one of those unforgetable relationship moments.
Day 7
Disney Day 2. We were only able to get a consecutive 2-day Disney park ticket, solely because our holiday period was so short, but the other park we wanted to go and visit was Hollywood Studios. We both enjoyed the movies and we though that this park would be the best one for us to go and visit so we could have a jampacked day. The Great Movie Ride, The Muppets, Indiana Jones Stunt Show are just some of my favourite rides at Hollywood Studios, but Rock 'n' Rollercoaster will always be my favourite! I absoloutley love Aerosmith and the adrenalin you get from this ride is second to none. Ofcourse it was just my luck that we were placed in the front row of the ride... What had I done to deserve this?! There was a lot of new features in Hollywood Studios; I was upset that they had got rid of the car stunt show, but the park was in need of a revamp and they have done that in the name of Star Wars. There is now numberous Star Wars features in the park now, and there is also going to be a brand new Toy Story Land currently under construction; again, just another reason for us to go back ;-) I loved this day, aside from my 21 year old boyfriend buying a lightsaber and asking for it to be taken out of the packaging, Hollywood Studios just has a flare about it which I just love. But it was also more special because I got to meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse and I got a selfie with Olaf from Frozen! Look how happy he is to see me!
Day 8
Over half way into our holiday now, boo. But it was about time that we recharged our batteries, so we had a day around the hotel pool. There was nothing really to say about this day, we just chilled out all day. I didn't get sunburnt, which is a first but I tanned very nicely. But of course I wanted more, so we decided to go to a waterpark the following day.
Day 9
This day was probably the most exhausting for a multitude of reasons. We decided to visit Aquatica Waterpark to top up our tans a bit more and to no longer feel sweaty; instead of going on the waterslides, we spent the majority of the time in the wavepool, lazy river and rapids but it was suprisingly tiring. These past couple of days I had realised how much I had missed swimming as a casual sport, something that I really hope to pick up again now that I am back home, its is such a relaxing way to exercise, something that I should be really keeping ontop of but I can't wait to begin swimming again. Anyways, because all the swimming made me tired, we decided to cut the day short.
I was in a tense mood all day, a very nervous tension. Before coming out to Florida I knew that my university degree results would be released while I was on holiday and this particular day was the day before my results were due to be released. When I got back to the hotel, I checked the Facebook group that my course have and it turned out that everyone's results had been released a day early. I checked my results, practically shaking as I was doing so and I found out that I would be graduating with a First Class Honours Degree, the best you can get! I was absoloutley speechless, I was originally in denial that it was my final grade, but I just didn't know wether to laugh, do I did nothing... I just made noises in giberish, refer to the episode of The Vicar of Dibley where Harry proposes to Geraldine- I was like her! I had to call my parents, dispite the phonebill and that it was 11pm back home and they had work in the morning- they didn't believe me either! I was absoloutley exhausted from all the excitement of recieving my degree results as well as my day at the waterpark, we decided to go and get some food to celebrate. Do you know what the worst part was about getting my degree results? I couldn't have a drink becuase I am not 21 yet, the legal drinking age in America!
Day 10
We decided to spend this day returning to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure to conquer the rides that I didn't have the balls to ride earlier in the holiday, including Hollywood Rip Ride Rock It. I was very very nervous for this ride, but I wasn't going to bail out. And then the staff decided to place us in the front row... I wanted to die. I had never been so terrified in my life! And the onride video proves it! Me screaming all the way through the ride while Jack laughs at me througout the whole thing, I even lost my hair bobble! I would have bought it but I didn't want to fork out $40 on something which I will always remember anyways. Nevertheless, this made me get over my nervous fears of rollercoasters and I went on the Dragon Challange in Islands of Adventure aswell, I have to say I was proud of myself- and it definetely prepared me for the next day ahead at Busch Gardens.
Day 11
The last full day of the holiday had arrived. :-( but we were going to spend the day at one of the best parks that Florida has to offer, in my opinion. Because Busch Gardens in based in Tampa, we had to get up fairly early so we could get a coach over to the park, which was an hour drive away. We arrived at the park and caught up on our sleep on the way, I knew that there had been a number of changes to Busch Gardens, the last time I went there was in 2005 when SheiKra had just been built. The newest ride that was there this time was Cheetah Hunt, a rollercoaster nearly 1 mile long and goes from 0-60mph in just over 2 seconds, 3 times! This rollercoaster reminded me a lot of Rock 'n' Rollercoaster from Hollywood Studios, and it was pretty awesome! It was just a shame that this was only 1 of the 4 rides that we went on, because it started to pour down with rain with severe thunderstorm so all the rides were shut down! The worst thing about this was that there is literally no indoor rides at Busch Gardens, so there was nothing for us to do. And we couldn't go home as our coach back to Orlando was due to pick us up 4 hours later. How did we kill 4 hours worth of time, I hear you ask? Sitting, sheltering, eating, seeing the animals at the zoo. The rides eventually opened again, 20 minutes before we were due to get our coach! There was no point in queueing for any rides as we were ready to go home by this point, we were fairly miserable. But we did enjoy the 4 rides that we did get the chance to go on, obviously gutted that I never got to go on SheiKra but all the more reason to go back!
Day 12
Time to go home. We booked a late check out so we could have abit of a lie in and get some breakfast before our transfers came and took us to the airport. Orlando International Airport is pretty spectacular, once again a bought a MAC lipstick in duty free, in light of me being unable to buy any cheap alcohol (damn being underage). Before we knew it, it was time for us to board our flight home. I am good at flying to the destination but terrible flying home, I thought I would be able to sleep because it was an overnight flight but my body clock was completely broken. There was a baby behind me crying, a child infront being sick. I didn't feel well and had to knock myself out with acouple of paracetamol...
Day 13ish...
Touchdown on home soil! It was cold. I already missed the Florida sunshine. I was tired, jetlagged, feeling sick; all I wanted was to get home, but I still had to get 3 trains to get me back to my little bed. We were very lucky that we managed to get trains to our destinations straight away with very short wait times. And before I knew it I was back home, greeted by my doggy and I just crashed on the sofa for a good 2 hours. Holiday Done! It won't be long until I go back!
Have you been to Florida? What is your favourite Orlando theme park? Let me know in the comments or Tweet me @Elisa_A__
Elisa :-) x
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