Orlando 2019

So around the end of August this year, I went on my dream holiday to Orlando. For years I have dreamed about going to America and Disney. And for years I would always drag my mom into travel agents to take free brochures (Which my mom proably used to hate me for as our house was filled with these Disney holiday brochures). So in early to mid 2018, Myself and my boyfriend decided to bite the bullet and book ourselves this dream holiday for our 21st birthday celebrations.

We had booked to stay on-site at Universal at the ‘Endless Summer Resort - Surfside’ hotel. Because of the location being near shops& Restaurants. Also, the inclusion of free transport to The Universal parks and CityWalk. Which I feel is 10000% worth doing. As transportation to and from parks can add up. Although Ubers and Lyft’s are fairly cheap out in Florida. The hotel itself was absolutely faultless.. The cleanliness was 5*, the Food was good and the staff are amongst some of the loveliest, kind people I have ever met, and nothing seemed to be too much trouble for them. And for this reason, I have booked to return next year with my boyfriend to stay here again.

As this was my first time to America I wanted to just try it out and go for just a week. But wow I wish I’d have extended it for longer as we had tried to cram everything into this schedule and everyday was like a 14/15 hour day on our feet running around Orlando like headless chickens. This besides we still managed to fit a heck of a lot into this short time frame we had in the USA. For example, we managed to go on mostly all the rides and attractions we had wanted to at Universal. And the majority of the rides we planned at Disney (as we only decided to do 3 parks but was that tired we only managed to get 2 done from exhaustion).

We had chosen to spend 3 Days at all three of the parks at universal (Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and Volcano Bay. And I feel that this was plenty enough time for us to explore and enjoy universal to the fullest. But if you prefer to be more laid back when you visit you might want to consider booking maybe an extra day or too in the parks. But me and my boyfriend are the kind of people that like to stay busy and active on holiday so for us this was fine. 

Our first day was filled with magic as we entered Universal Studios and I had finally fulfilled my dream. Something that really Amazed me, was how amazing the 4D/3D rides are in Orlando and they really made the rides we have here in the UK look not as good. We had decided to stay until the very end and saw that there was a light and firework show happening. Which was out of this world and happened to be one of the best parts of the holiday.

On our second day, we arrived at Islands of Adventure. And another dream came true (Orlando is so magical and full of magic) of seeing the Hogwarts castle and Hogsmead. It well and truest tool my breath away. The attention to detail within that place was phenomenal. During our last day at Universal, Hurricane Dorian was approaching us And because of this, the weather was not great at all. This was the day we had planned at Volcano Bay water park but being the perisitent brits we are decided to wait until the rain wasn’t as bad and still went to enjoy volcano bay in all of its rainy glory. Overall our experience here was out of this world and such a dream come true and I can’t wait to return in 2020.

Towards the end of the week we decided to visit Disney.. WOW what a dream come true. From the moment I stepped into the ground of Disney I was emotional. And by the time I had gotten through the gates I was a crying mess. The first park we visited at Disney was Hollywood Studios. Although due to the imminent hurricane that night. Disney had to shut at 2pm (I really applaud Disney for doing this). So we tried as hard as we could to fit in as much as we could into a very short period of time. And surprisingly, we managed to do everything we had set out to do before arriving in Florida. As the hurricane seemed to make less people travel into Orlando. Also meaning shorter que times. My highlight of the first day was riding the Aerosmith ride. As this is now one of my favourite rides ever. 

The next day post Hurricane. we visited The Magic Kingdom. Wow what a day. The parks still seemed a little empty from the hurricane. So wait times weren’t very long so we managed to ride on mostly everything within the magic kingdom. One thing we had seen a lot about online was the Disney food and as we had very limited time in the park the day before. We had our first chance to taste The food... The first thing we tried, DOLE WHIP. I am O B S E S S E D. And was the perfect way to keep cool in the Florida heat so more than one dole whip was purchased that day. Also, I had to try the mickey cake pops and wow I have not tried a nicer cake in my life than a Disney cake pop. As the day drew in we managed to fit in time to meet Goofy and Donald Duck as there was no wait times. Which was such a magical experience. And then it was time for the firework display.. The moment I had waited for my whole life was finally here. I was not disappointed and was such an amazing end to an amazing and magical day. 

Overall, this holiday was defiantly one that I will keep close to my heart forever. Not only was it me and my boyfriends first holiday out of the UK together but a lifelong bucket list goal that had came true. I can see us returning again as often as possible. As our first American experience was everything we wanted and more. And I am beyond excited to return for two weeks in 2020 to explore more of this magical and amazing place 

Olivia x