Two Weeks in Orlando

My personal top four:
1. Kennedy Space Center. Prepare to bring your credit card. I wanted everything I saw - toy space shuttle, NASA gear, Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo stuff, videos, and books. Wow. Then (if you time it right) you get to see a shuttle on the launch pad. Fantastic.

2. Busch Gardens. Technically not Orlando, but only a little over an hour away and easy to find. We found it better than Magic Kingdom for kids. Land of the Dragons was brilliant, only we didn't get to it until near closing time.

3. Magic Kingdom - fireworks and parade. I know it's a bit twee, but I really enjoyed it. After spending my life seeing pictures on TV, to actually be there was great. To get in the mood, go straight to meet Mickey, Minnie, et al. It sets you up for the day.

4. Shopping. Take a trip down International Drive, although we didn't find Belz Outlet Mall to be that great - there were better ones. If you like your clothes designer, then this is heaven for you. If like me you are not fussy about the brand then you can also find cheap and cheerful stuff.

Overall, a fantastic holiday experience. Orlando is a place I believe you have to visit a number of times before you get to do everything. Two weeks was just not enough.

Quick Tips:

Hire a car. Turn on the airconditioning five minutes before you need to drive. Also, we flew in at night and still had to get to our apartment. We actually retyped the directions given, using the biggest font we could find. This made it easier for navigation. Also, be prepared to live by the road numbers, it is not like being at home where you generally know where you are going.

Want a free ticket to the theme parks? Then go to a timeshare presentation. You get these for attending, and who knows, you might even buy a timeshare.

Bring your own water to all theme parks and lots of sunscreen. If you have children try to find a cap with the material hanging down over the neck (like the French Foreign Legion have). Make sure you have it before you arrive because they don't sell them in Orlando.

If your child is still stroller size then bring the stroller (great for hanging stuff on and your child will get tired in the heat).

On entering the theme parks, head for the furthest point and then work your way back.

Best Way To Get Around:

The car is king in Orlando, and it's actually quite easy to get around, even for someone like me who is used to driving on the other side of the road. The roads are big and people don't drive as fast as they do in Europe.

Best Things Nearby:
Everything is nearby, as long as you have a car. Reasonable restaurants, good shopping, and of course the theme parks.

Best Things About the Resort:
Location is great, and the units are extremely well maintained. The pool is just the right size (although no kiddies pool as such).

Resort Experience:
These are well kept units, with three TV's, one in each bedroom and one in the living room. There's huge beds and separate bathrooms for both bedrooms. There's also a comfy couch to watch the TV, and a full kitchen.

There's a movie theatre, videos to rent, virtual reality golf, and a shop on site to get your basics. They offer a shuttle to Universal and Sea World.

Silver Lake was the first real 'apartment' vacation we had experienced. It has now spoiled us for all future vacations. It gives you total freedom. Freedom to cook or not cook. Freedom to spend the day in the apartment if you want to, not having to leave for room service every day. It felt like a home away from home and really enhanced the whole vacation experience

• Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
• Activities: Good
• Amenities: Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Very Good
• Service: Very Good

Best Things Nearby:
Beuna Vistas Outlet Mall -- less than a mile, 7-11 -- less than 200 yards away, Bennigans -- across the road.

Best Things About the Resort:
The unit was a nice size, although the second bedroom was smaller and a little bit dark. There is a nice veranda to sit out and relax in the shade in the evenings. I liked the layout of the unit, which was a split level kitchen and living area.

The swimming pool was small, but so is the resort. There are free towels for use when at the pool. There's a fantastic view of Bryans Cove, the water looked surprisingly clear. You could avail of paddle boats of canoes.

Resort Experience:
I felt more at home in this resort. We recevied a warm welcome from the front desk, but after that they pretty much stayed out of the way. It was good to know there was someone there if we needed them. The pool was small, but it gave the place a personal feel. More than the previous resort we got to talk to fellow visitors which greatly enhanced the experience of staying at the resort. The unit itself was comfortable, spacious and cosy. There was a well-equiped kitchen, bathrooms were fine and cable TV in each of the bedrooms and the living area.

• Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
• Activities: Good
• Amenities: Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Very Good

This is a must if you are into space exploration or even if you are just vaguely aware that we have been to the moon! It's really easy to find and the day we were there the queues to get in moved really quickly.

I recommend that when inside the first thing you do is take one of the tour buses out into the Cape. There are 2 stops, one of which is to an observation tower where you can see (in the distance) the shuttle launching pads. The next stop is to the main exhibition centre which has a life size replica of Apollo 11 and an excellent movie on the whole Apollo mission.

Then head back to the main area of the complex, go see an IMAX movie or two, eat in the restaurant and then go to the shop. If, like me, you are big into space history then all your dreams have come true. There's loads of NASA gear to buy, books that I had never heard of regarding space flight, Astronaut Bigraphies is especially good. Upstairs it is full of collectible memorabilia. The question is not whether to buy, but what to buy. I could have spent all my vacation money. I loved it.

We went as a family and we decided that there was no way we were going to see everything and still have time to relax and unwind. We therefore decided we would do a theme park or big excursion every second day. This worked out just right. It meant we got to relax by the pool, read and generally chill out every second day. It also re-charged the batteries for the following day. I can only imagine how exhausted we would have been and how everything would have blended into one if we went somewhere big every day.

The biggest issue I had in Orlando was to do with a proper sun hat for my son, who is 4. We presumed (incorrectly) that in Orlando we would have no problem picking one up. Wrong!. Suggest you make sure you get one before arriving there.

We stayed in apartments with full kitchens, which were both excellent. The issue we had was trying to find either restaurants that served 'ordinary food'. That is somewhere that served something other than fries or a supermarket where the price of the food was reasonable. Be prepared, if you intend cooking yourself on vacation, to pay above what you would normally expect for the basics -- bread, milk, butter, potatoes, meat.