Finally we arrived at our destination for a few nights the magnificent Ritz Carleton on Key Biscayne. On the edge of a nature reserve yet only 10 minutes drive from downtown Miami and the South Beach area what a fantastic place to spend a few nights. If like us you travel in the school summer holiday period its classed as the low season! That’s a first. It did mean that we were able to get very reasonably priced rooms. We can highly recommend it. Whilst you are there one place you must go for some fabulous people watching is Ocean drive at South Beach. We still laugh whenever we think of the sight of a bearded man in a bikini and ra ra skirt directing traffic. Whilst a lot of fun after a few days we were pretty glad to get back to the relative sanity of Orlando!

The Electrical Water Pageant is a nightly display that makes its circuit around Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake. It is best to check at a Guest Services desk either at Magic Kingdom or one of the resorts for the times but as a general rule it starts at 9pm. We find one of the best places to watch it from is the beach at the Disney’s Polynesian Resort. The pageant consists of two strings of seven barges, each carrying a 25-foot-tall screen of lights. The pageant features King Triton and creatures from under the sea (turtles, whales, seahorses, even a sea monster) set to music. The pageant concludes with a salute to America, with Flags and Stars set to a musical medley of God Bless America, Yankee Doodle, and You’re a Grand Old Flag.

 ‘Wishes’ fireworks at Magic Kingdom can be seen nightly from the beach at Disney’s Polynesian Resort. We usually grab ourselves a beach chair, sit back and relax (beats being squashed by the crowds standing up in Main Street, USA). Unfortunately, you can’t hear the narration or the music or see Tinkerbell flying through the sky but if you have already seen it for real and have used up all your days on your Disney tickets this is the next best thing! Disney’s Boardwalk is home to a wide range of entertainment. Jugglers, magic shows, a pianist playing the piano whilst riding a bicycle and a whole host of other activities. These can differ from day to day but are usually in the afternoons or early evenings.

One of our favourite things to do at Boardwalk is to rent a Surrey Bike. Two, four and six-seater bikes are available and a pedal around the picturesque promenade is great fun. Disney’s Miniature Golf. Disney has four courses in two separate locations each having 18 holes. Fantasia Gardens Mini Golf Courses are in the Epcot Resort area on Buena Vista Drive just across from the WDW Swan Resort. You can choose from the fun ‘Fantasia Gardens’ course (dancing hippos, leaping fountains and marching broomsticks complete with music and interactive obstacles) which is more suitable for adults with young children or the ‘Fantasia Fairways’ (par-three and par-four holes ranging from 40 to 75 feet long) for the more experienced golfers. The Winter Summerland Mini Golf Courses are adjacent to Disney’s Blizzard Beach water park. The Winter course is covered in snow with ice castles and snowmen and a trip to the ‘North Hole’ whilst the Summer course consists of sandcastles, surfboards and a visit with Santa on the Winternet. Disney provides lots of activities not only for their resort guests but also for anyone to enjoy.

Try horse riding at Fort Wilderness, fishing excursions on Bay Lake or the Seven Seas Lagoon, or rent a tandem bike from the Bike Barn at Fort Wilderness. You’ll never been short of something to do at Disney. Have fun!

Cypress Gardens was the original theme park and opened in 1936.  It was famous for its wonderful flowered gardens and the Florida Belle ladies wearing their ‘Gone with the Wind’ dresses and the famous water ski shows.

However, due to lack of custom, it went into liquidation in 2003.  Fortunately, it was purchased and it re-opened in December 2004, still showing the Florida Belles and water skiing but also with many new rides.

We have been holidaying in Florida for quite a few years and have done Disney and Universal many times and so decided to give Cypress Gardens a try.

The park is open for 362 days a year and only closes at Easter and Christmas Day.

The park opens at 10.00 am and closing times vary depending on season.

First of all we were really surprised by the prices - around $40 per day and quite often you can get a second day free.

Getting there was easy, South on Highway 27 and just a few minutes along County Route 540.

Parking was very easy as the car park is very big.  No queuing like the larger parks.

The rides are not as large as some of those at Disney or Universal BUT when we visited Cypress Gardens there were no queues at all.  Our two children literally walked onto every ride within 2 minutes.  They loved it and went on ride after ride again and again.

The main roller coaster is a real old fashioned wooden ride called Starliner and is really great.  It has eight up and down hills and a 65 foot drop.

There are also a couple of other roller coaster rides as well such as Triple Hurricane, Swamp Thing, Fiesta Express and Okeechobee Rampage.

Storm Surge and Wave runner are two water rides which are good fun and fortunately you do not get too wet.

In total there are around 36 rides varying from rides for the very small to rides for teenagers.

There are several places to eat ranging from kiosks selling ice cream to cafes selling coffees and pizza etc.  Prices are pretty good too.

One good thing too about Cypress Gardens (in my opinion) is that there are not loads of gift shops tempting you to spend your hard earned money on cheap nick nacks.

The staff were very friendly and always very obliging.  In particular was the bumper car man.  When our two boys went on the bumper cars, there were hardly any people on them.  The whistle blew to stop the ride around every five minutes but after a while, he just asked the boys if they wanted to carry on without the stopping.  They of course said ‘yes’ and he let them ride around for over twenty minutes non stop - absolutely wonderful for them.  We really appreciated his friendly attitude.

We all had a really enjoyable two days at Cypress Gardens and can highly recommend it as an alternative to other parks.

The Disney area is unique in that there is a huge market for short-term rental.   Certainly there are other areas of the country where renting a vacation home or “villa” (this is a European term) is a possibility.  However, availability is often limited and the rates can be expensive.    In the Orlando area, short-term rental homes are easy to find, easy to book, are a great value and offer the utmost in luxury, comfort, and Floridian style!

There are too many reasons to list why this is an incredible alternative to a hotel room, but read on to find out about a few!

We all love our children dearly, but it’s a real downer being cramped in a small hotel room trying to get them to go to sleep late at night (or even early morning hours!) while all you want to do is collapse in peace.   It never seemed right to have to sacrifice the comforts of home on what is supposed to be a vacation.  Some vacation!!!  The one thing   I appreciate the most since discovering short-term rental accommodation is that I don’t have to give up my privacy and downtime!  After a long day at the parks, the children are in their own rooms (with the peace and comfort they need to fall asleep!) while my husband and I unwind in the lounge watching a good movie or discussing the events of the day. 

The second thing I appreciate most is having a fully-equipped kitchen!  No – I don’t enjoy cooking on my vacation, but it can be very stressful having a meal in a restaurant with young impatient children let alone 3 in one day not to mention the expense!  But, to have a refrigerator, pantry and microwave for quick breakfast foods, snacks or easy lunches is the ultimate convenience!

How about the many outfits youngsters can potentially go through in one day?  Can you possibly own enough to pack for an extended vacation?  Let’s face it, do they not always manage to wear their food, find the mud, and often have accidents that we don’t need to go into detail about?  This brings me to my third favorite thing – a laundry room!  Need I say more?

And finally, the best of all is the private pool!  Yes – a pool all to yourself just outside your door!  No need to walk to the hotel pool and then camp out for hours while the kids swim.  Nope! They’re right outside your door where you can keep a close watch on them while doing whatever else you might want to do when you’ve had enough of swimming! 

If you haven’t discovered this amazing way to vacation, then once you have, you will never want to do it any other way!  Enjoy!

A truly enchanting Christmas is created at the Gaylords Palms Resort (6000 W. Osceola Parkway, Kissimmee, Florida), called ICE! 

From late November until early January, there is an enormous ice carving on display. Two million pounds of ice is hand-carved into a truly spectacular Christmas winter wonderland. The carvings are done by a team of 40 artisans who visit from Harbin China every year, and it is a pleasure to be able to view their artwork on display at this venue - one of only a few places in North America. 

Wrap up warm though; the ice carvings are kept at a chilly 9 degrees

Christmas 2007 heralded the carving of a candy house, ice cream sundae and giant frostproof express locomotive.  There were icy slides to try out (for the young and young at heart), as well as an outdoor ice rink, and of course, Santa comes to visit.  Another added attraction was the Hidden Holiday Gnome Hunt – 20 gnomes hidden throughout the resort presented a unique challenge.

There was also a live stage show ‘Luminessence – A Christmas Fantasy’ and a synchronized laser light show.

Christmas plans are announced in August on the Gaylord Palms Resort website  www.gaylordpalms.com/ice, where you can purchase your tickets (or phone (407) 586 0000).

2007 prices were $12.99 for ICE, and $7.99 for ice skating (when purchased with ICE ticket)

Sand Sculptures

Gaylord Palms Resort also features an evolving array of sand sculptures in their Key West atrium. 

Blocks of building sand are sculpted into figurines, which are then sprayed with a thin coat of diluted Elmer’s Glue to keep the moisture within the sand.

2 tons of sand is used to create the sand displays and it takes about 3 days, and 60 working hours, to create each sculpture.  With the sculptures being kept in the weather-shielding atrium, they are able to be preserved for approximately 6 months.  However, they are continually updated - at least several times a year.

The artists who create the displays have won local, state and international honours for their works

Events are open to day ticket holders as well as inclusive for hotel guests.

Bass Lake is a private gated community with two swimming pools (one heated all year round), hot spa and club house with gym, dance floor, pool tables and library.

It is around a thirty-minute drive from Orlando International Airport and about an hour drive from Sanford Airport so is not to far from your arrival point. A ten-minute drive will get you to the Disney parks and around 20 to 25 minutes will get you up into the International Drive area with all the parks and facilities such as Wet and Wild, Universal and Sea World, of course the worlds largest McDonalds is there for the kids.

There is a bus service that runs up and down International Drive and this could be used to see where you want to visit and hop on and off as required.

Bass Lake  is a superb area to base yourself as it is only an hour drive to NASA, just over an hour to the Coco beach, and the same to Daytonna where the beach is lovely sand and goes on for miles.

Closer to the estate and down on the 192, about a five minute drive away you have Kissimmee Old Town where there is shopping and a fun fair and every Saturday a vintage car parade. Just a little further is Celebration, the Disney owned town where there is always something happening and some good restaurants, and on the 192 itself, a plethora of restaurants from all you can eat places like the Golden Coral, to Steakhouses like Logans.

A couple of miles from the community is a Publix supermarket and even closer is a large 24 hour Wal-Mart.

So, the community is well situated for visiting all of the areas that you would want to in Florida, but far enough away from the glare and sounds of the parks to relax in the peace that surrounds the community. There are also several golf courses closeby should you wish to partake in this activity.

If you would like a peaceful holiday, but be able to visit the parks and restaurants on offer without to much trouble, look at Bass Lake.

It is around a thirty-minute drive from Orlando International Airport and about an hour drive from Sanford Airport so is not to far from your arrival point. A ten-minute drive will get you to the Disney parks and around 20 to 25 minutes will get you up into the International Drive area with all the parks and facilities such as Wet and Wild, Universal and Sea World, of course the worlds largest McDonalds is there for the kids.

There is a bus service that runs up and down International Drive and this could be used to see where you want to visit and hop on and off as required.

Santa Cruz  is a superb area to base yourself as it is only an hour drive to NASA, just over an hour to the Coco beach, and the same to Daytona where the beach is lovely sand and goes on for miles.

Closer to the community and down on the 192, about a five minute drive away you have Kissimmee Old Town where there is shopping and a fun fair and every Saturday a vintage car parade. Just a little further is Celebration, the Disney owned town where there is always something happening and some good restaurants, and on the 192 itself, a plethora of restaurants from all you can eat places like the Golden Coral, to Steakhouses like Logans.

A couple of miles from the community is a Publix supermarket and just a little further is a large 24 hour Wal-Mart.

Back to the community itself, it is a very quiet and some of the homes(like ours) overlook a golf course.
 
If you would like a peaceful holiday, but be able to visit the parks and restaurants on offer without to much trouble, look at Santa Cruz.