Florida

In March I was fortunate enough to go to Florida for two weeks on holiday with my mum and dad. This was my fourth time to Florida and its safe to say it gets better every single time! We stayed on International Drive in the Enclave Suites and bought tickets to all of the theme parks. Although the hotel wasn't quite what we were expecting we still had a fantastic time and the swimming pools were great. We loved walking down to the lake to see wild turtles, fish and ducklings. We also had a lovely view of the surrounding theme parks. International Drive itself was great for us since we enjoy going for meals outside of the hotel and the drive is full of varied restaurants. We had stayed on International Drive in 2014 and there had been so much improvement to the shops and general atmosphere of the drive. When we visited previously many of the shops were closing down and the place seemed quite dismal. However this time round the area had flourished and is now a very clean, welcoming and busy place with numerous new attractions including the I-Drive 360, outlets and SeaLife. There was always plenty to do and everything was very accessible with cheap bus fares which was great after long days at the parts. 

For the first few days we headed to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. I was amazed at how many new rides there were since I went in 2014. I was the most excited about Harry Potter World since they now had Diagon Alley which I had never seen before. Once we had explored Hogsmead (which is incredible) we took the Hogswart Express train to Diagon Alley. This train ride was incredible and the interactive screens were fantastic and so detailed. As soon as I got off the train it felt as if I were in Kings Cross, there were post boxes, timetables with city around England and the famous platform 9 3/4 sign. We walked along the street where there was the Knight bus and tall 'London' inspired buildings. Then we came cross a wall in the middle which people kept coming out from so we decided to see what it was and Oh my god. I could not believe how amazing it looked, the minute you walk round the wall you are in the heart of Diagon Alley. Its literally just like the film and the attention to detail is incredible. There are so many interactive things around that are compatible with the wands that you can buy there and you can purchase butterbear from the stalls. After walking round and taking it all in we queued up for the Gringotts ride. We queued for just over an hour the first time although I would recommend using the single riders due since that was only 15-20 minutes. The queuing experience was great as you walk through the bank and theres so much to see including the goblins and the bank itself. Its all very impressive. The ride itself was amazing, I am not a huge lover of big rides but this one was perfect and I really felt I was in the film. 

The rest of Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure was great. We particularly enjoyed the Simpsons ride, Transformers and E.T. Adventure and eating a giant dohnut! 

For the next week or so we tried to visit as many of the Disney parks as we could. By this time we were pretty tired so much of our adventures into the parks happened around three in the afternoon. My favourites were Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom. For all of the Disney Parks we used the fast track system where you can book a time slot for a particular ride on the App. This meant that we got the chance to go on rides that we deffinatly wouldn't have been able to since it was spring break and the parks were super busy. 

Epcot was a lovely day since we spent hours walking round the 'World' and ate lunch in a Moroccan  restaurant which was so tasty and a change from the American food we had been eating. The test track ride is an absolute must! We decided to go single rider since the queue was an hour long. We waited around 10 minutes and the ride was really good, especially if you like speed. 

Magic Kingdom has to be my all time favourite park. The minute you walk in everything seems so magical and perfect. The disney music played round the park and the scent of candy floss, cake and popcorn fills the air. I always feel like a little kid at magic kingdom because everyone is so happy and theres just this huge magical feel about the place. I cannot wait to go when I eventually have children of my own! My favourite ride is Thunder Mountain, Im not a huge lover of big rollercoasters but this one is just the right size for me. I was disappointed that we didn't get to go on the new Dwarfs mine train since the queue was over 2 hours long and all of the fast passes were booked up for three weeks, so Ill deffinatly book in advance next time! 

The other park I thoroughly enjoyed was Animal Kingdom. I had not been to this park since 2011 so it was nice to see what had changed. We headed to Expidition Everest first. I was super nervous since its extremely high and fast, when I first came off it I swore I would never do it again but now looking back on it it wasn't that bad and the idea around it was really good. We also had an amazing time on the safari. We managed to get on one of the last safari rides as the sun was setting which was just lovely and the animal were really active and close. Im a huge lover of animals so this was a magical experience for me. 

My overall holiday to Florida was amazing, we went on many new rides than we had done on previous trips since I am more confident with bigger rides and the fast passes allowed us to pack more into our day. We also had a great time shopping down International Drive and tried so many new foods. 

Cannot wait to plan our next trip!x