Orlando's not just for kids!

I was quite delighted at what $60 a night could buy. We had a suite with a little living room and a mini-kitchen. The fridge was bigger than most and there was a microwave, sink, coffee maker and supplies. They did not provide dishes. There was an ironing baord and iron in the closet as well as an inroom safe. The rooms are not fancy, but very clean. I like clean. The TV was positioned so you could see it from either the couch/living area or bed.

The bathroom was well stocked with towels. They only supplied soap in the bathrooms but they had complimentary shampoo and lotions and other toiletries at the desk should you need them. Same with a hair dryer. They didn;t supply them but if you needed one for a $20 refundable deposit you could get one from the desk.

We enjoyed a simple breakfast. Again nothing fancy. They had cold cereal, muffins, danish, english muffins, toast, bagels as well as many types of juice and coffee or tea. The breakfast room wasn't large and at 6AM no one was out there...but it seemed by 7:30am to be packed. I guess the early bird really does get the worm!

They had a very small but nice patio area with a pool. It was too cold to use it when we were there but it appeared well maintained and clean.

Complimentary transportation to the nearby theme parks left the motels on both sides of this motel. So you have to walk about a minute to catch a bus. They ran continuosly throughout the morning and there were many return trips back beginning at 3:45PM. Parking at the parks is $8 so this was nice. The nearby parks were Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Sea World and Wet & Wild--you could walk to Wet & Wild.

This was an excellent location for shopping and entertainment...yet not on a busy road. You could easily walk to dozens of restaurant and shopping areas. There were sidewalks for safety.

We booked this motel online from the AOL travel site. They actually had a regualr room without the mini kitchen for as little as $32 a night. The front office was staffed 24 hours a day should you need anything. The staff was professional and friendly.

Orlando has it all. We tried many places and they were all great. Sweet Tomato was excellent. The crowds gather by 6:30pm, so you can avoid a long wait if you eat early. I'd plan to eat about 5pm. Everywhere you look, you see coupon books. Practically every restaurant advertises in them, and you really do save money by taking a coupon with you.

We had pasta and it was delicious. The atmosphere is a little dark but cozy at the same time. Service was great regardless of the crowd. This is a restaurant for the whole family. Good food at affordable prices.

From the moment we arrived in Orlando, everything went smoothly. We retrieved our baggage in 5 minutes (really)--they are so efficient. We rented a car from Enterprise. They were wonderful. I booked online and everything was in order and they were waiting for us. The charges were exactly what I expected. I must caution you to NEVER take the deal "Bring the car back empty"--it never works in your favor...remember that.

We stayed at this little Microtel Motel. It was really very nice. Nothing fancy, for sure, but clean...I like clean! The location was minutes from anything you could want and they were on the complimentary bus line to the theme parks. Since parking in all theme parks is now $8, it's quite a savings. However, it does make a few stops along the way, so you waste about 30 minutes.

We visited many parks. Universal and Islands of Adventure were both fun. Then we spent a day at Kennedy Space Center. I'm sure some folks loved it there, but it's too slow paced for me. Once you get on their bus, you're stuck and can't bail out. It was also expensive. From $29 to $52 depending what you select. I'm a firm believer that our tax dollars pay for that and it should be free.

The best day of our trip was spent at Sea World. Sea World is GREAT. Their entertainment is first-class and holds the attention of any age. I didn't expect to find Sea World better than the others, including the Disney parks which I did last year, but it sure was.

As for saving money on tickets, Universal offers tickets online cheaper, but no other park does. If you plan to eat out, be sure and grab those little coupon books. They are everywhere. Just about every restaurant uses them and you'll save 10 to 15 percent off your entire meal with most of them.

When it's time to leave - be warned that Orlando seemed to have more security than many other airports and it took us a good hour to check in and go through several check points.