Theme Park Madness at Easter Break

Easter Week is a popular time to visit central Florida. The weather is perfect; not hot and humid as it is during the scorching summer months, nor cold with the biting wind of winter, but sunny and warm with the occasional brief rainstorm. The Kissimmee area has an amazing number of theme parks and attractions so it is not surprising that is a very popular family destination. Anyone visiting must be prepared to wait in lines and put up with traffic and crowds. Many guide books are written about the area, so use them to plan well, take lots of breaks and enjoy the great weather.

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

The best way to get around the Kissimmee area is by car as places are far apart from each other. There are many multi-laned highways which accommodate the hordes of people driving everywhere. Traffic can be heavy, so ensure plenty of extra time to get where you are going. It is helpful to have a good map. Most of the maps handed out by the various tourist offices are not too scale and have only the major arteries on them.

Even with a car, you may end up parking quite a distance from where you are actually going, so be sure to take everything with you as you will not be inclined to go back to the car for it later. Children may be tired by the time they get to the entrance of the attraction you are planning to visit-fortunately strollers are readily available and even if your child has abandoned the stroller years earlier, for a full day of theme park fun, it is not a bad idea to have one along-you can store all your belongings in and around it as well rather than carrying them all on your person.

It is not a bad idea to write down where you are parked when you arrive in the morning. At the end of the day when you are ready to go back to your accommodations, it may be dark and lots more cars have been parked-yours may be difficult to find.

Alternatively take a picture of where you are parked and then check your camera later!

Orange Lake Golf and Country Club is an enormous resort with several different “village” areas. You could easily spend a week just enjoying the resort, as there is so much to do. A free shuttle transports guests around the complex. There are also shuttles available (for a fee) to take you to the attractions of the area.

We had a two bedroom unit in a four story building in the West Village, the oldest in the complex. Many of the units are single story villas backing onto or facing the golf fairways. Other arrangements are in double storied villas or larger hotel size buildings. There are wide lawns, small copses of trees and man made lagoons.

With textured candle glow walls and wicker furniture with bright tropical prints, the units are nicely decorated. There is a large entertainment cabinet but the television inside is much smaller than the opening suggests. We find the lighting totally inadequate, especially in the kitchen where there is one dirty light with a 90-watt light bulb.

There is a screened porch with four chairs and a table overlooking the golf course. It is a lovely place to sit and relax, although the plastic chairs offer little lumbar support. Unfortunately all surfaces are full of spider webs and pods soon to release new spiders and there is a wasp’s nest hanging from the ceiling of our porch.

There is glass on the ledge between the windowpanes above the dining area bench—it seems a pane had broken and although they had replaced it, not all of the glass was removed. We also find glass in the cracks behind and underneath the bench.

My husband and I spent the entire next morning cleaning. It is disgusting how poorly the place is cleaned. We both had several conversations with the “front desk” and were referred to the appropriate department. On the phone, help was apparently “immediately on its way”-in reality, this was not the case at all.

Each “village” has a recreation center, with similar activities offered at each one and specific activities available at only one locale. There is a weekly agenda to help you figure out what is going on where and when.

The pools are an attraction all on their own, with a lazy river in one complex, a wave pool in another, fountains, sprinklers, playgrounds, tubes, slides and all sorts of fun for all ages. There are towels available and both shady and open areas with lots of lounge chairs, although unless you arrive fairly early in the day, you will have trouble finding an empty chair. Snacks and drinks can be charged to your room so you do not need to bring cash.

Vacation Village At Parkway enjoys a great location close to Interstate 4 just off the 192. They were half way through construction of their final sized resort of 25 buildings. Our sales rep told us you could watch the fireworks at Disney World from some of the buildings.

Three or more seven-story buildings are grouped around a central recreation area of pool, playground and barbecue area. If you walk along the raised boardwalk of the wildlife conservation areas intermingled throughout the complex, you feel as if you are far from the hustle and bustle of city living.

During a good part of our stay, the weather was rainy and not too warm, so there was not much activity at the pools, but judging the prominent signs everywhere about not reserving chairs with towels, I believe it would often be difficult to find a free chair. The pools are not large and situated as they are between the buildings, much of the lounge areas would likely be shaded for most of the day.

There are daily activities like pool aerobics, bingo, scavenger hunts, trivia, and face painting. Over Easter there was an Easter egg hunt for kids under 12--most of the activities could be enjoyed at no extra cost.

We have a two-bedroom lockout attractively decorated with quality wooden furniture and an enormous television. The larger side has a Jacuzzi and each side has its own balcony. Each side of the lockout has a queen-sized bed, sleep sofa, and washer and dryer. Kitchen facilities are ample. We can see the Arabian Knights complex from our balcony.

There are several pools, an activities centre, a playground and a fitness room with a few treadmills, a bike, a Stairmaster, an elliptical and two weight machines. There is an Internet centre and you can actually use it at no cost for 15 minutes.

Located in the Lost Continent of the Islands of Adventure Theme Park, Mythos restaurant describes itself as the best theme park restaurant in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. It offers full service dining and you can make priority-seating arrangements at the dining cart in the Port of Entry. You might be lucky to get a seat by walking in at an off time.

The restaurant looks like the inside of a cave with the walls sculpted into large replicas of ancient Greek gods. Subterranean streams run between the handsome seating areas, with seats upholstered in regal purple. Soups, salads, appetizers, and entrees have intriguing names and flavors to match. The food was delicious. Portions are enormous and can easily be shared by an adult with a child or even two adults. We had a baby in our party and perhaps our server Jason did not like infants because his attitude was surly and totally detracted from our enjoyment of our meal.

Uno Chicago Grill and Bar can be found in a square brick building set back from the road on 1-192. It is a chain restaurant we have never tried before. We arrived very early and found the place almost empty. Most of the hosts and servers seemed to be middle-aged and elderly men.

Our waiter forgot everything the minute he left the table. It did not help that he forgot his pencil and did not write anything down. I had lemon basil salmon with roasted vegetables and pureed cauliflower. It was very good. The menu suggested asking specifically for anchovies to be included with the Caesar Salad. My husband requested this to accompany his Greek Panini. They did not come with the salad, but when we asked again, the coveted anchovies arrived in a large bowl and it just made my husband’s day!

At a cost of $50 +, this would not be something I would recommend unless you were a huge fan of riding entertainment. There are two shows most evenings, one at six and one at eight-thirty in the evening. Since our balcony was kitty corner to the Arabian Knights parking lot, we could see that it was completely booked every evening. We were told seating is first come first served, but when we got to our seats, many were occupied, I suspect, by large tour groups. It thus makes sense to arrive early, although in an arena venue, the seats are all acceptable.

Prior to the actual show, there is a pre-show magic show which is entertaining-try to sit near the front as the seating here is single level chairs. Those at the back may not have the best view although the presentation is on an elevated stage.

Once you get into the main arena, seats are on benches, but there are only so many to a section so you are not packed in. Your salad is waiting for you, as is a pitcher of Pepsi. If you leave your glass empty, your waitress will offer you awful rosé wine or awful beer. It will be filled once. There is a lounge which serves other alcoholic beverages but they were for the same dreadful wine and beer—you could upgrade by adding $2 for a better drink. A roll is served and there are wrapped pats of butter in a container. For your meal, you may choose steak, medium or well done only, chicken, which was dry or chopped steak. This comes with steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes. There may have been a vegetarian option. Dessert is princess cake, which is a white layer cake with white frosting. One does not go to Arabian Knights for the great food.

The show starts off with a clumsy funny act. Then the main storyline began which roughly outlined a princess’ upcoming eighteenth birthday. There were glittering costumes, comedy acts, and some fine riding. It was a good diversion for the evening. Flash photography and video cameras were prohibited.

Tickets to Arabian Nights can often be obtained free or cheaply by attending time share presentations.