"Our Orlando pages" a Orlando Travel Page by SarahTony

Our first trip to Orlando was taken in June 1999, with my parents and our two children, then aged 5 and 8. Our priority was to visit the Disney parks and Sea World and to have rest days every so often, so as not to tire the children out. We stayed in a 6 bedded suite in Embassy Suites on International Drive, with which we were very impressed. The parks we visited were Magic Kingdom, Epcot, MGM Studios, Typhoon Lagoon and Sea World all of which were fantastic, as anticipated. Sea World was a particular favourite of mine, as to see the dolphins up close for the first time was a dream come true for myself and my daughter. I have loved everything about Florida from this visit onwards.

On this occasion we took our 4 kids and again had accommodation in the International Drive area, due to it's handy location for walking to restaurants in the evening. This time we booked a 6 bedded suite in Quality Suites, just off I-Drive on Canada Avenue, but close enough to walk to where we wanted to go, and of course handy for the I-Ride.
We focussed our attention on the Universal Parks which we had been unable to visit the first time, and with our Orlando Flextickets were able to visit Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Sea World, Wet & Wild & Busch Gardens twice each! Free transport was also available to each of the parks which was fantastic!

Orlando is a fantastic place for a holiday, particularly with children.
But it is geared towards extracting as much money from the tourist in as short as time possible! But no where does it better and that is why millions flock there every year!
Food in the parks is overpriced bog standard fast food fare on the whole, but chances are that will suffice. You won't want to intefere with your theme park experience by spending too much time eating! We just had a quick snack at lunchtime, and had our main meals out of the parks in the evening.
The parks can be incredibly busy, but with a bit of planning it can be managed. Aim to get there and be ready to enter the park as soon as it opens. This gives you a big advantage! Visit the popular rides as soon as the park opens, or last thing, or when the parade is on if you have already seen it. Make full use of the fast pass system, as this saves so much time queueing. You will notice that people start lining the parade route about 2 hours before it starts, trying to get the best view. This is not really necessary, as if you have children they tend to go through to the front anyway, and the displays are so enormous that you can see them anyway! If possible find a shady spot and stock up on drinks before it starts.
With small children, pace yourselves. Visit the park in the morning, then leave and go back to the hotel for a swim / rest during the hottest and busiest times. Return in the late afternoon when it is cooler, and stay to watch the fireworks etc.
With under fives, take a buggy or hire one as the distances covered for little legs in the heat can be quite
phenomenal, and they will need a rest. Alternatively, leave the park and go to the water parks for a couple of hours in the afternoon. The heat and excitement really does sap the energy of young travellers, and we found that at the beginning of our holiday, our 5 year old was falling asleep over dinner every evening. We ended up having some very early nights. If you have small children and are planning to visit all the parks, visit Epcot first, as this will only impress small children if it is not compared with the other (more child orientated) parks.