Orlando - Disneyworld & Tiffany collection

Best Things Nearby:
Disney World, Bennigans steak grill, Winter Park

Best Things About the Resort:
Convenience to Disney World.

Grocery store on the grounds with a good selection.

Lots of activities if you have the time to use them.

King-size bed and unit-size washer/ dryer in apartment.

Resort Experience:
The Vistana is an extremely large Sheraton resort. The unit we were in had seen better days, but there were newer ones and evidence that some of the blocks were being renovated. We had a few catastrophes, such as the toilet that overflowed the first time it was used, leaving us with a soggy carpet in the hall that was covered in armloads of bath towels, as the resort couldn’t move us or get it fixed for two days. Luckily, it was in the second bathroom.

Having said that, our two-bedroom unit was situated across the road from one of the many pools where the kids went for a quick dip in the morning (thankfully not the main one, which would have been very noisy) and the resort had many facilities, which we didn’t even get to see as we were gone by 8.30am and didn’t get home till after 10pm nearly every day.

The reception desk processed existing timeshare owners, booking you in pleasantly but very robotically, whereas those obviously either paying to stay or there to consider buying were obviously being fawned over, which was quite amusing to watch. Thankfully, unlike Cancun, they didn’t continually bug one to inspect and buy one of their shares.

The unit had air conditioning, which was needed as September was very hot and humid, and we would have had trouble sleeping at night without it, and having a washing machine and dryer in the apartment was great with the hours we were keeping.

•Reasonable grocery store on the grounds with a good selection of basics.

•Need a car to get around the resort, as the grounds are large beautifully landscaped with fountains and water courses and multiple swimming pools scattered throughout, not just clumped together. There are also tennis courts, bars, restaurants, and more.

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

This restaurant is kid friendly. There are big steaks and fresh salad, fajitas or burgers for the kids, huge slabs of apple pie for desert, and unusual choices of beers, including Voodoo beer, which, when looking at the label, you had to think whether you really want to try it. It has a relaxed atmosphere with no pushing to get you out early, and decorations with lots of interesting paraphernalia to check out while you're waiting for your order. It is within walking distance from the Vistana front gate

At Disney World, we recommend for families to eat in the "Around the World" section attached to Epcot, as there is much more variety through all levels, from take away to fine dining. We tended to use the take away, as the girls didn’t want to waste time eating when we could be seeing and doing other things.

The food had a lot more vegetables and less grease, as there had Asian-style or European food. We tended to purchase Asian stir-frys and rice- or pasta-style dishes, but the variety and choice was immense. In the other sections, such as Movieworld and Fantasyland, the take away was more of the fast-and-greasy-style, like hamburgers and chips, unless you wanted to pay a fortune for overrated smorgasbords, which took a lot of time waiting to be seated. For the restaurant in the castle, even in the off season, the queue for a table was out the door, and, having spoken to some who had been waiting over a half hour to get in, we decided to avoid it like the plague, as the reports from those who had eaten there weren’t all that impressive. Animal Kingdom also had decent food with stalls selling bags of fresh fruit (pineapple or watermelon wedges), an interesting Moroccan bar, and a family restaurant with steaks and salads. If you have older children who can cope with changing their meal times, try to avoid the peak times. We tried to get in either, just before the major rush started, or grabbed takeaway late, just before some form of street entertainment or show, and would munch while the procession/show was on. This saved wasting precious exploring time, as we were staying in the same spot for the entertainment anyway. We did the same with coffee breaks and killed two birds with one stone.

Disneyworld has the Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Movieworld, and Fantasyland. The theme parks are designed for kids, but adults get a lot of enjoyment from them as well. Having teenage kids, we found that Fantasyland was everyone’s least favourite, although they would not have passed up the day we spent there. What blew me away was the thought and detail that went into the construction of these sites, even down to the paths in the Animal Kingdom being made to look like solid pounded mud tracks with imprints of leaves and animal footprints. The shows like the Lion King in the open auditorium were fantastic, especially as they are all included in the entry price

Five-day passes are a must, as they are good from 9am to 10pm and much cheaper than buying single days. It also means that you can swap between parks, so that if you get to one and find it very busy, you can go investigate a different one partway through the day, or swap over for the night without having to pay a second admission cost. You can often get these prior to leaving Australia through your travel agent as part of an airfare deal. (Watch out that it is not for the L.A. one, which is only a version of Fantasyland – the Florida sight is four theme parks together and absolutely amazing in the variety of what is on display with much of it more suited to older children). It’s worth the extra flight across America, as it is not as tacky or dirty as LA.

If only doing the theme parks, then it is easy to arrange door-to-door shuttle service to and from the major parks from your accommodation. They were very flexible with timing and accommodated long days, such as 9am to 11 pm, so you could stay and watch fireworks and the closing processions.

Many companies also run bus trips to the big ticket sites, like the space program.

To go anywhere off the main circuits, you will need to hire a car.

It had an incredible Tiffany collection, including large pieces, such as whole bays of windows and the complete insides of the chapel from his house, as well as examples of vases and lamps from different eras.

It was a small museum, but had an incredible layout and lighting, which set the pieces off to their full potential. There is a complete history of the man and his life - interesting artisitc friends and a passion to create and support others in cultural pursuits. There was a lovely ambience and the staff was friendly and enjoyed being there.

A must if you are going to Disney World in Florida is a book called the Unofficial Guide to Disney World. It is brilliant! I originally thought it was expensive when a friend recommended it, but it was worth its weight in gold, as we got to see all the shows and did all the major rides and minor rides we wanted without wasting a lot of time.

Using some, but not all, of the ideas in this book, we planned our attack on these four theme parks in such a way that, although it involved some back tracking, we managed to get into all the free shows, which had limited seating and only ran once or twice a day, and managed to get on the most popular rides with no more than a 15-minute wait. Anyone who has been to the American theme parks will realise that this is good, as sometimes the lines are so long, you are waiting up to an hour to get on. It also helped to go in the off season as the crowds are about 30% less than those during peak season. Even having said that, the place was still packed! I think I would have not enjoyed it nearly as much if there were three times as many people there. And we definitely would not have seen everything we did.

Main points to remember:
1. Make an effort, even though it is a holiday, to get up and get there for the opening time - you have the chance of getting on a few of the most popular rides without having to wait.
2. Pick up a show guide as you enter the park. Rather than let the kids just dash off in amazement, take 10 minutes to read and plan where you need to be, so you can assess the crowds building up. Let the kids join the less popular rides nearby that won’t take long (the entrance maps tell you how long each ride is once you get in). Join the queue once it starts filling up to a couple of lanes and send the kids or the hubby off to get everyone a drink or an ice cream to keep everyone occupied while standing in the queue. Many of the queues have videos or information showing, which is all part of the atmosphere and distracts you from the fact that you are standing in a queue. REMEMBER, there are events that allow a set number of people, and they will close the line off, so don’t leave it to the last minute to join. There is no set seating, so the closer to the start of the queue, the more chance of getting a good seat and ones that are all together
3. The night before, check out the unofficial guide book and work out which of the most popular rides everyone wants to go on. When you get to the park, after organising the show timetable, make a beeline for the most popular rides, planning them in an order that puts you close to where you want to go for the next ride or show. The idea is to do the most popular rides either first thing before the crowds arrive, or around tea time, when a lot of people who have been there all day decide to stop for a break. When the line for a major ride that is close to a major show, the numbers also drop off just before they close the lines for the show.
4. Plan meals and coffee breaks to coincide with street activities. That way you can eat while you are sitting watching, or, if you want to dine in, break away from the event just before it finishes, as you will get in and get a table before the rest of the crowd decides it is a good time to eat when the event finishes.

Winter Park is full of hidden treasures oft ignored because of the big-money tourist spinners, like the theme parks and space centre.

This suburb is hard to get to. We actually hired a car to get there for the day as the cheapest and fastest alternative possible, and only managed to track it down with the assistance of an employee from the Vistana who lived there. I had read about it in my trusty Dorley and Kinsley Guide to Florida (an excellent guide book company, who always manage to surprise us with unusual, but brilliant, off-the-normal-tourist-route information, along with the more popular entries), but I could not find a tour operator who took one anywhere near there. Some of the sights include:

Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art – incredible Tiffany collection, including large pieces, such as whole bays of windows and the complete insides of the chapel from his house, as well as examples of vases and lamps from different eras, plus other eclectic articles.
Scenic cruise passing Cornell and large, private houses
Galleries (one of a kind jewellery, clothing and art pieces, and selective home and giftware shops – surprisingly reasonable prices for the quality) and cobbled roads.
And what we didn’t get time to see and were sorry to miss – Cornell Fine Arts Museum - an extremely large and interesting collection according to our trusty Dorsley and Kinsley Guide to Florida.

While you are in Florida, you would believe that nothing exists except the theme parks, the space centre, and factory outlet shops. We have discovered (after talking to others and reading), but unfortunately did not have the time to investigate, that it is also home to a large number of extremely interesting collections and galleries. I think another visit without the theme parks is in order. But one will need a car, as they are invisible destinations to the tourist operators - even the taxi/hire cars won’t quote you to take you to these areas, and, on the advice of the locals, you would waste half the day using the bus system.