Orlando blooms
There’s no time to be bored in Florida playground.
HOW often do you hear the phrase “something for everyone”?
A resort has “something for everyone”, a hotel has “something for everyone”, even restaurants...
But one place that really, really could lay claim to that saying is Orlando.
Thrill-seekers, families, couples, groups of friends – there’s no time for boredom in Florida.
While it’s undoubtedly the rollercoasters and theme parks that keep millions travelling to Florida, there’s so much more to it than that.
As an Orlando first-timer, all I had in my head was theme parks, theme parks, theme parks.
And while that sounded fantastic, I could see why that wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea.
The reality is that theme parks aren’t all rollercoasters, noise and tired, screaming children.
My Florida trip began by flying from Edinburgh to London. You can fly direct from Scotland to Orlando but I was meeting up with a group so flew from Gatwick.
On arrival, we checked in to the Hilton Orlando, a perfectly-located hotel in Destination Parkway.
Just a few miles from some of the main attractions, the hotel was contemporary and featured a host of restaurants, a market, two luxurious pools and a lazy river... bliss.
Day one of my adventure began at SeaWorld.
There was plenty of excitement as we got to test out the amazing new Mako hypercoaster.
Hyper is right as we excitedly climbed into our seats – it’s the only hypercoaster in Orlando, which means it has heights and drops of more than 200ft, powering across the skyline at up to 73mph.
It was billed as a “wild mix of fear, thrills and fun” and they weren’t wrong.
Unusually, for a coaster of this size, we weren’t held in by a substantial over-thehead harness, but by ‘just’ a lap bar. The fact our upper bodies still had room to move around was both exhilarating and utterly terrifying at the same time.
But what I loved most was experiencing the other side of SeaWorld – getting up close and personal with dolphins, manatees and the likes on a behind-the-scenes tour of the rehabilitation centre. What beautiful, gentle animals to behold.
We spoke to experts about the park’s commitment to scientific research and conservation that has led to advances in the care of animals
in both zoological facilities and wild populations.
But soon there were more coasters to experience and Manta, the park’s signature face-down ride, was amazing.
What a fantastic day, finished off with a great dinner at Rocco’s Tacos and Tequila Bar.
Waking feeling refreshed, it was off to Discovery Cove.
This secluded getaway gave us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to swim with dolphins, snorkel in crystal waters teeming with rays and tropical fish and hand
feed exotic birds.
Swimming with dolphins was a magical moment I will never forget. I was shown hand signals to make beautiful Coral give me a kiss and staff were there to capture the special moment.
If that was a day of relaxation, the next day at Busch Gardens in Tampa Bay was anything but. This is a fantastic park that often gets lost among the hype of Disney and Universal.
It offers thrilling rides, amazing animal encounters and live shows. There are 12,000 animals in the zoo and Busch has some amazing rides like SheiKra, Montu and the Cobra’s Curse – an allnew family spin coaster.
That day was made all the more eventful by the impressive rain storm that hit us – there’s nothing quite like a Florida downpour!
Premium Outlets is a fantastic place to pick up designer bargains with stores like Armani, Burberry, Michael Kors, Nike, Prada and Tommy Hilfiger giving me a chance to blow my holiday spends.
All that shopping left me with a desire to flake out in the sun so it was perfect that Aquatica was our next day’s plan. This is SeaWorld’s waterpark combining animal experiences, waterslide thrills and sandy beaches. Perfect!
And so that six-day adventure gave me a glimpse of the wonders that Orlando has to offer.
An amazing place that I can’t wait to return to.
In fact, you could say it truly does have “something for everyone”.