Sunday, July 28, 2013

Orlando 2013 - The Best Bits

So, after a fortnight in Orlando/Miami, what are the highlights (and a few lowlights). Here, in no particular order are a few of my thoughts:

Driving

  • Generally easy
  • Good signing
  • Ability to turn right on a red light
  • U turns
  • No hassle sitting in any lane
  • Very cheap gas (petrol)
  • Automatic is easy
  • Sat nav (I used Co-Pilot) makes any trip so easy. It was faultless throughout
  • Big parking bays
Eating
  • Huge portions (too big often) - we shared many a dessert rather than have one each
  • Quality of food in restaurants generally very good, and usually exceptional
  • Cheap compared to UK (our friend had a 20 oz rib eye steak for about $20 - that's about £13)
  • The restaurants we went to on Highway 192, Kissimmee)
    • Texas Roadhouse
    • Bonefish Grill
    • TGI Fridays
    • The Olive Garden
    • Bahama Breeze
  • The restaurants we went to in Miami (just off Ocean Drive)
    • The Big Pink
    • Joe's Stone Crab
Best Rides/Attractions
  • Kraken (coaster - Seaworld)
  • Hulk (coaster - Islands of Adventure)
  • Rip Ride Rocket (coaster - Universal)
  • Cheetah Hunt (coaster - Busch)
  • Sheikra (coaster - Busch)
  • Harry Potter Forbidden Journey (simulator - Universal)
  • Simpsons (simulator - Univeral)
  • Men in Black (shoot em up - Universal)
  • Coopertown Airboats, Miami
General
  • Customer service (usually) exceptional
  • Garbage disposal
  • Chilling out on Miami Beach
  • Flying Virgin Atlantic - cant fault them
  • The lightning - spectacular - shame it comes with clouds and rain!
The not so great
  • The rain - expect it in Florida in July, but it rained a lot more than expected. Still, it didn't unduly hamper us, just wish we'd seen some more blue sky
  • The humidity - sapping - remember to drink lots and lots
  • The new Antarctic Ride at Seaworld - quite disappointing
  • The queues - I know, I know. You're going to get queues if you go to Orlando theme parks and big ones if you go in the summer - doesn't make it any easier though, although I think we did OK due to some careful planning and a bit of luck
  • Orlando International Airport - on the way home - seemed a bit chaotic and disorganised



No comments: