The food, though a little pricey (not surprising as you have to take into consideration the novelty of your surroundings), was very good.  One of their specialties is rotisserie chicken which you can see cooking in the “Kitchen of Fire” (the kids will enjoy this special viewing area as it is truly surrounded by fire!) as well as watch the chefs bake pizzas and flatbreads in the wood burning oven.

 We ordered the Footprints Flatbread and Dexter’s Dual Dips for our appetizers.  The flatbread was topped with 4 cheeses, carmelized onions, chicken and drizzled with a balsamic glaze.  The dips included a queso and an artichoke dip served with tortilla chips.  Both were very good. 

For the main course, my daughter and I decided to share our entrees.  I ordered the Omnivore’s Delight salad with grilled chicken and she opted for the Triassic Tortellini.  Both were delicious, but we agreed that the salad was probably the best we’ve ever had.  It was a huge salad of iceberg lettuce and field greens with really generous portions of sweet pecans, sliced strawberries, craisins, and goat cheese with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing.  I was really pleased because I really love salads with pecans and goat cheese and I’ve never seen such a pile of pecans and so much goat cheese in any salad I’ve had before.  I really loved it!

You may be familiar with the Rainforest Café’s famous “Volcano” dessert – lots of chocolate, lots of ice  cream, lots of topping, lots of yelling “Volcano!” and just plain lots – one will feed our family of 5!  Well, T-Rex offers their version of this indulgent dessert – the “Chocolate Extinction.”  Make sure you finish off with one of these – it’s fabulous!

ICE! at Gaylord Palms

This is a truly memorable place to visit and one you will never forget.  We visited this atttraction a couple of years ago with my two young children and it was spectacular.  It very different to anything that we had visited before and the children really enjoyed themselves. 

ICE is an attraction made entirely out of “Ice”.  The attraction’s main scene is a life-size Nativity carved completely of crystal-clear ice.  There are sleighs and reindeers where you can sit in the sleigh and have your photo taken.  There are also great slides which the children (or even the parents) can go down, all made out of ice!

Be prepared though it gets extremely cold in the attraction and you are supplied with Parka coats - do wear them as I have never experienced cold like that before.  Also wear closed in shoes/trainers. 

ICE! is open daily, including holidays.  Event hours vary throughout “ICE! season.”  For further information visit the website http://www.gaylordhotels.com/gaylord-palms/best-of-florida-christmas/index.html?source=http://www.gaylordpalms.com/ice

SeaWorld The Polar Express Experience

Guests are invited to jump aboard The Polar Express Experience at SeaWorld for a magical trip to the North Pole.  SeaWorld’s Wild Arctic transforms into a thrilling expedition to the fabled Santa Town. The Polar Express Experience is based on the film from Warner Bros.  The Polar Express Experience provides guests with lighting, scent, sound and motion to transport them to the North Pole … and into the spirit of the season.

When guests arrive at their destination, they step off the train and into the movie itself. Temperatures drop and holiday spirits soar as the travelers arrive at the frozen North Pole, complete with towering Christmas tree, gift-laden sleigh, village decor and Santa himself. The journey continues as guests also encounter other inhabitants of the North Pole — the animals themselves — including graceful beluga whales, powerful polar bears and giant walruses.

Visit http://www.seaworld.com/ for further information.

Christmas in Magic Kingdom

We have visited Magic Kingdom during a many trips to Orlando, but I do love going there during Christmas time.  You get lots of Christmas sprit along Main Street, where you will find Disney elves have decked the halls with towering Christmas trees, colourful lights, bows and garland. Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, toy soldiers, and giant gingerbread men greet guests during special daytime runs of “Mickey’s Once Upon a ChristmastimeParade.” The parade is included in regular park admission on select dates.  Pls visit the website for further details.

This is only a few ideas of what to do. Just enter “Christmas in Orlando” on the Interet and you will find plenty of information. 

Happy Holiday!!! 

When it comes to eating there is so much choice you won’t nowhere to go there are restaurants just about everywhere and of course there a fast food places such as MacDonald’s and KFC. But of course you can also shop at Wal-Mart and make your own food which is better if you’re on a budget.  There is everything in America that there is in every country so you would find something you liked.

If you like going out at the night time then there are clubs pubs and also family entertainment such as old town and down town Disney which is a Disney run place. Which is free and there are shops and theatres and performances which kids and adults will enjoy. Old Town is a little town on the 192 between marker 10/11 which is good if you want to go out for an hour or for 5 hours there is always things to do look around the shops watch the live band, have cold or hot drink, food or something real British like good old fish and chips or look at all the kitted up cars and motorcycles that run down the main street on Friday and Saturday evenings. There are all sorts of shops from sweet shops to clothes, jewellery, Florida merchandise shops. Old town also have a now large “Fun Spot” There is also a place called boardwalk which is also run by Disney where there is shops and restaurants where you can chill and on the night you can also see the fireworks from magic kingdom and Epcot.

There are really good places to go shopping like the Florida mall to the Osceola mall to lake Buena vista there are expensive brands for small prices.

A leisurely stroll through the magnificent gardens will take on average around one and a half hours, but for those with a little more time on their hands there is so much more to do and see. In the Garden House you can sit a while over a coffee or browse through a plethora of informative gardening books in the custom-built library section. However, the purpose of this article is to look at the early history of Leu Gardens and, in particular, the part Harry P Leu played in its development.

At the heart of the the gardens in The Leu House Museum which is on the National Register of Historic Places. Guided tours, illustrating turn of the 20th century living, are available to visitors and last around twenty minutes.

Originally The Leu House was simple farm-house with five rooms built in 1888 by the first landowners, the Mizell family. Subsequent owners made further additions to the property and Joseph Woodward completed the house as it is seen today.

After Woodward’s wife died in 1928 the estate went into trust and was rented out until it was bought by Harry P Leu in 1936 for the pricely sum of $40,000.

Harry P Leu was born in Orlando in 1884 and became an extremely astute and well-respected businessman. After graduating from college he worked locally for a boiler repair company called Cain & O’Berry. Leu worked his way up through the ranks before taking time out in New York to develop his business acumen even further.

On returning to Orlando, Leu eventually gained control of Cain & O’Berry and changed its name to Harry P Leu Inc, which then became an industrial supply company with offices in Miami and Tampa.

He bought Leu House in 1936 and set about major renovation work, which included the installation of central electricity and plumbing.

Away from the house Harry Leu had a great interest in plants and flowers. With his wife they embarked on several trips around the world bringing back many of the exotic plant varieties seen in the gardens today.

In 1961, the house and their beautiful gardens were given to the city of Orlando. This was Leu’s way of giving something back to the community where he had made his fortune.    The deed stipulated that the estate would always remain a botanical garden, for enjoyment and education of the people.  

The Leus hoped the house and gardens would attract people from all over the world. If they had been around today they would have seen that dream become reality.

However there is a lot more to see, and Leu cleverly designed the gardens into separate zones to maximise their impact on the visitor.

On arrival a path leads to the Tropical Stream Garden, which was completed in the year 2000. Follow the meandering stream down to the shore of Lake Rowenta and marvel at lush vegetation and babbling natural spring. Here Harry P Leu has created a garden with the look and feel of the tropics with plantings of banana, ginger, tree ferns, and palms to name but a few.

The Wetland Garden and Wycoff Overlook on Lake Rowenta was replanted with native aquatic plants around ten years ago. Today it is teeming with all sorts of wildlife including wading birds, dragonflies, turtles, and even the occasional alligator.

From the boardwalk the visitor will come across not only native Florida aquatic plants but also water lilies and lakeshore mangrove.

For the amateur gardener there are two zones dedicated to plants native to Florida.

The Home Demonstration Garden showcases different plant groups including annual and perennial flowers, vines, ground covers, fragrant flowers, ornamental grasses and textured plants. For those short of space the Urban Patio Garden features tub plants and vines that can thrive in courtyard settings.

Then there is the Bird Garden with plants that attract a range of migratory and native birds including the Florida Scrub Jay and Hummingbird.

The Butterfly Garden is planted with flowers and plants that supply nectar and attract many different types of butterfly.

Additionally there is the Enabling Garden, which features a variety of plants on raised beds ideal for wheelchair users and the Evening Garden is full of highly scented flowers and herbs in pale hues which stimulate the senses.

There also separate sections for vegetables, wildflowers, grasses and herbs.

In summary Harry P Leu has created a horticultural masterpiece so diverse that it is guaranteed to attract all types of garden lover from all over the world.

A visit is highly recommended.

The first thing that hit us when we stepped off the plane was the heat.

The East coast was having a heat wave it was 100f (35c).

During our stay the weather never changed. Even at night the temperature remained in the high 70’s aided by the heat given off by the buildings after standing in the sun all day.

The second thing to hit us was the airport. It felt as though thousands of people had just arrived in JFK airport and assembled in the arrival lounge at the same moment we had.

Definitely not for the feint hearted.

We picked up our luggage and joined what seemed a never-ending queue for a taxi. We didn’t have to wait long it just felt like we did.

We hadn’t been in the taxi long when we both experienced a feeling of Déjà vu. It was one of those occasions when you see something you know you recognise and seems very familiar. You momentarily think it’s in the wrong place, and it shouldn’t be here, yet you know you have never been anywhere near it before.

We were passing the observatory towers of the worlds fair held in New York in 1964 used in the film Men in Black and the ride in Universal.

What we hadn’t accounted for were the images (left from watching TV and films) that had been placed in our memory.

Just on that journey to our hotel we ‘remembered’ buildings, bridges and other structures we had never before seen in real life. Then the real challenge, naming the film, program or series we had seen them in.

It happened on many occasions during our visit, the giant floor piano in the toy shop (F.A.O. Schwartz) in the film ‘big’ with Tom Hanks, The fire station used as the headquarters in the film ghost busters and grand central station bombarded by asteroids in the film Armageddon to mention only a few.

We also had what we would describe as reality checks during our visit.

Seeing the sight of the twin towers, the damage to the surrounding buildings and the narrative given to tourists by an employee of one of the banks who witnessed the events as they unfolded on the day.  

Outside the Dakota building were John Lennon died and his Imagine memorial a short walk away in central park. All truly unforgettable experiences.

 New York is well named as the city that never sleeps. It feels as though every building is illuminated. Even the police station in Times Square is brightly lit with large neon lights letting you know it’s the NYPD.

 I could write pages on our experiences of our short visit. If you have never been New York I would very much recommend you include it as one of your must see places to visit.

Many years ago we made the discovery of the joys and untold pleasure to be gained by visiting the Gulf Coast and in particular the beaches of South West Florida,   There is something unique about still being able in this busy world  to walk along an empty beach of clear white sand with the occasional appearance of a dolphin  freely swimming close to the shore line looking a for meal, the only company.

We have encountered this scenario many times along South beach  Boca Grande and  and Stumps Pass Englewood to name a few, the locals do not bat an eyelid when the dolphins meander past, they are just used to it.  Whilst the visitor myself included will alert to the wife in excited way that dolphins are off shore, I can just visualised the locals muttering to themselves, typical tourists.  You can see dolphins along any beach on the gulf coast but there is no doubt they like quiet areas and when they come close to shore to feed.

The peak Gulf coast vacation rental season on the gulf coast is the winter months December to April when the North Americans and Canadians flood into South West Florida especially to escape the cold temperatures and snow in the Northern States.  The months of May and June are considered the off season which has always amazed me, I have been sat on a sun chair on a quiet beach in hot and sunny weather with the temperatures in the 90s and reading the local papers which talk about the busy season being over. When on some of the beaches in Europe in similar conditions you would be climbing over people to get to the sea.

Yes some of the beaches will still be busy, the likes of Fort Myers and Sarasota but there are still plenty of beaches to explore which offer the type of experience I have described above.

We arrived at Universal one summers afternoon just as the storm clouds opened, knowing that it wouldn’t be long before they moved off we parked the car and decided to make our way along the walkways from the car park. Well lets say that the storm didn’t move off as quickly as we hoped so we were stuck there for a little while as it was raining that hard it wasn’t worth getting wet for, but true to style the rain relented and we made our way toward Islands of Adventure.

However before we made it Margaritaville called us over, as it was still a little wet we went in and decided to have a margarita.  We had promised ourselves that we would try one this year.

It was early in the afternoon, no plans of driving until that evening so we thought why not? Having never tried a margarita before it was going to be an experience.

We were pleasantly surprised by the great welcome we got from the bartender who said it was fine for our boys to sit at the bar, it was quiet but we are used to “no children” at the bar attitude that it made a lovely change, to sit there and chat to a “local” so we sat down and perused the menu. Gosh what a choice? I can’t remember which 3 margaritas we chose but they were all very different and had great names. Next came “sugar or salt”? Sorry? Around the glass would you like “Sugar or Salt”? My sister and husband chose salt but I chose sugar and I think I made the right chose but that comes down to the individual’s choice. WOW, that first sip nearly took my head off, I wasn’t expecting it to be that strong, thank goodness we were going to have a lazy afternoon at the park. For some reason my sister decided against the Hulk that afternoon, (me I never go on it) I wonder why??

What was nice was that the boys could eat at the bar whilst we took it easy with the drinks, play on a bar game like skittles and we could all relax. My 13 year old has asked to return next year for a meal, so perhaps we will have to try another margarita?

But one thing we reckon is better than shopping at great prices - is shopping at even lower prices!

Thanksgiving

European visitors to Florida may not be too familiar with Thanksgiving.  It is a major celebration for Americans, and is the fourth Thursday in November.  A few shops continue trading for the day, but the majority of shops and many restaurants close for the day.

The Thanksgiving sales traditionally start on the Friday following Thanksgiving.  But be prepared for an early start - the best bargains are to be had at 5am (yes, really, 5am - that’s 5 o’clock in the morning.  The middle of the night!).

But is it worth an early start?  Many Americans certainly think so, as the shops are busy from the start.

Where to shop

The choice of where to shop for bargains is overwhelming.  The best way to find out where the best offers are is to buy the local newspaper ‘The Orlando Sentinel’ during the week before Thanksgiving.  The Sunday edition is packed with adverts for all the local stores, and makes great reading over a cold drink, lazing by the pool at your villa.  Examples of shops which have fabulous discounts are Wal-Mart, Super Target, Michaels, Best Buy……and many others.

What to buy

Villa owners are often to be found buying electronic goods.  Brand name televisions, video and DVD players enable them to provide extra luxury for guests.  We were delighted to pick up an additional DVD and video combination unit for just $48 (typical price in the UK at the time £75 or much higher).  But these may not be so attractive to visitors from overseas, who have different voltage to contend with.  European visitors may look for portable items such as laptop computers, MP3 players - but do check the voltage required to recharge the batteries.

To avoid concern about voltages, there are bargains to be had on toys, crafts (40% off any one item, or 20% off total bills are typical offers) etc.  DVDs and music are often on offer (the Shrek 2 DVD for $5 was a welcome addition to our choice of films - usual cost of Blockbuster films around $14, which is still great value) - but don’t forget to check if your DVD player at home plays Region 1 discs.

Getting up early

These bargains require a very early start - numbers are limited (but still there are often many hundreds of each item).  We recommend shopping, and then catching up with breakfast at one of the excellent offerings, such as the I-HOP (International House of Pancakes)

During the holiday period at Epcot, from November 27th - December 30th. the Park is transformed into an International Celebration of Christmas traditions from throughtout the World. It is highlighted by the Candlelight Procession with the live entertainment and decorations a sight to not to be missed.

Candlelight processional is held on Selected Nights at The American Gardens Theatre, telling Christmas stories narrated by Celebrity Speakers, accompanied by a 50 piece orchestra and a Full Mass Choir. Whoopi Goldberg is one of the narrators this year. It is very popular, as you can imagine and fills up very quickly, so you need to get there early. You can pre book with a meal package which guarantees your seat at the show and the fireworks. (We didn’t and took our chance by getting there early). 

It is a great way to get into the Christmas spirit and to see and share the magic feelings with people from all over the world but most importantly, your own family. It is truely an amazing atmosphere which we will share again when our next visit takes in Christmas.

Add this to you “Must Do” list, not forgetting The Osborne Lights.

Have a great Christmas at Disney

Mary & Larry