Shopaholics will, for some reason known to themselves, want to spend days wandering around the retail Hell that is Festival Bay Mall or The Florida Mall.

Yes, with The Florida Mall’s 1.9 million square feet of shopping including, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Sears, and over 260 specialty stores you are sure to find more than what you are looking for – probably a divorce, if you (like many of us) do not consider this to be a great way to spend a holiday!

These large shopping malls are also a bit of a drive away from where we Brits tend to stay in villas in the Davenport/Kissimmee/US27 areas.

Let me suggest two smaller malls which I find I can cope with, and which are closer:

My second choice would be Orlando Premium Outlets.8200 Vineland AvenueOrlando, FL32821 407.238.7787. It has 150 shops which has to be enough for anyone, and hosts the Levi’s shop where I always buy my jeans (in leg lengths seemingly impossible to buy in the UK)

My favourite mall, however, is Lake Buena Vista Factory Stores 15657 S Apopka Vineland Rd (SR 535) Orlando, FL 32821 407.238.9301.

The stores at Lake Buena Vista offer factory direct items at savings up to 75%.  There are less than 50 stores, but these are generally the ones you need for holiday shopping – great for trainers!  It is really accessible, with the car park in the middle and store front parking. As advertised, it is a quiet and relaxed village setting and in addition to the usual forgettable food court there is an Internet Café, The World of Coffee, for specialty coffees, desserts and a selection of food items from Greece and the Middle East. 

I am deliriously happy to wait there (on an outside table when it’s not too hot) with a cup of coffee and a baklava, while my wife exhausts every inch of retail space throughout the mall.

Try Lake Buena Vista Factory Stores for your shopping. It could be a marriage saver!

Andy Brownlie