Orlando is one of our favourite destinations. The home of Harry Potter, Mickey Mouse and a host of other characters, it is theme park heaven for adults and children alike. Philip Nolan, travel writer with the Irish Mail on Sunday, tells you everything you need to know about what to do in Central Florida.
 
MUST DO
 
UNIVERSAL ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is the best simulator ride in the world), The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk rollercoaster, Jurassic Park – The Ride, Popeye and Bluto’s Bilge Rat barges (beware – you will get soaked on that one).
 
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
The Rip Ride Rockit rollercoaster, Revenge of the Mummy – The Ride, Despicable Me Minion Mayhem and Transformers The Ride-3D.
 
SEAWORLD
Manta and Kraken rollercoasters and the Journey to Atlantis Flume Ride. Also the new attraction Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin. Under construction and due to open soon is Falcon’s Fury, a new drop tower that will lift riders up to almost 300 feet (that’s one and a half times the height of Liberty Hall in Dublin). At the highest point, the seats tilt forward, leaving riders looking straight down as they plummet at 100 kilometres an hour back to the ground       
 
AQUATICA
Another great waterpark next to SeaWorld
 
DISCOVERY COVE
This is the SeaWorld park where you can swim with dolphins or take the SeaVenture walk on the bottom of the aquarium. Day admission in June, including swimming with the dolphins, costs from $289 and includes all meals, changing rooms, towels, and special sunscreen that is not harmful to aquatic life.
 
BUSCH GARDENS TAMPA BAY
The best rollercoaster park. Choose from SheiKra, Cheetah Hunt, Montu, Kumba and Gwazi. You can feed giraffes on the Serengeti Safari for an extra fee - $19 off-peak up to $39 in high season, per person.
 
DISNEY’S ANIMAL KINGDOM
Expedition Everest rollercoaster, It’s Tough To Be A Bug, Kali Rover Rapids and the Kilimanjaro Safari
 
DISNEY’S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
Aerosmith’s Rock’n’Roller Coaster, Star Tours, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
 
EPCOT (DISNEY)
Spaceship Earth, Soarin’, Test Track, IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth laser and fireworks show
 
MAGIC KINGDOM (DISNEY)
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, It’s A Small World (just to lodge the song in your brain for life).
 
BLIZZARD BEACH (DISNEY)
Brilliant waterpark dressed up to look like a ski resort.
 
FLIGHTS
The time of year you choose to visit is going to impact hugely on airfares. In February, you’ll pay as little as €517.24 with Aer Lingus. In July, the cheapest available is €854.98 and that involves plane changes at Boston on the way out and JFK on the way back with the Aer Lingus codeshare partner JetBlue. Full details on aerlingus.com
 
HOTELS
The greater Orlando area has 450 hotels and 115,200 guest rooms, and they all have to be filled. If you want to self-package, check out hotels.com or other hotel websites. For families with more than two children, it’s worth looking at villas. Many come with their own pools and give you the flexibility to cook at home when you’re not at the parks. At the very least, families should look at suite accommodation. You can book suites with two bedrooms, usually both en suite and both with televisions, with kitchen/living room too. One property I can recommend is the Sonesta ES Suites on International Drive – see sonesta.com/Orlando/ - where a two-bedroom suite costs from around €180 a night.
If your budget stretches to staying at on-site hotels at Universal – the Hard Rock Hotel, the Loews Royal Pacific and the Loews Portofino Bay – you get free priority access to all the rides in the two theme parks.
 
PACKAGES
Package holidays usually are the best option for families travelling to Orlando. Tour America (touramerica.ie) has June offers starting from €519 per person for seven nights based on two adults and two children sharing and you also can enter the parks an hour before other visitors.
 
PARK TICKETS
The Orlando FlexTicket allows for entry to either five or six parks – Universal Studios Orlando, Universal Islands of Adventure, Wet ‘n Wild, SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. €243 per adult and €228 per child for five parks; €272 per adult and €257 per child for six parks. FlexTicket also gives you free coach shuttle transport between Orlando and Busch Gardens. Buy direct on orlandoflexticket.ie or as part of a package.
There are six parks in DisneyWorld – Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard beach. A five-day ticket costs  
You can package the whole lot with the Orlando Freedom Ticket, which you can buy at attractionticketsdirect.ie
That allows for 14 days unlimited access to all six Disney Parks, both Universal parks, both SeaWorld parks, Wet ‘n Wild and Busch Gardens. It also allows you to visit more than one park a day, making it a very flexible option, and also gives you free green fees on Disney’s Oak Trail golf course. That costs €582 per adult and €549 for children.
 
WHAT CAN YOU DO IN A FORTNIGHT?
It’s really important to sit down before you book and roughly plan what you will do in a fortnight. Ask yourself – do your children tire easily? Do they handle high daytime temperatures and humidity well? How tall are they – they may be denied access to many rides if they are under 3 feet four inches (roughly one metre), which is fine for boys and girls from around five years old, but they will have to be considerably taller to ride others. For instance, Dragon Challenge, one of the most popular rides in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, has a minimum height requirement of 4 feet 6 inches (1.37 metres).
If you want to do a day on and a day off in the parks, that means you realistically will get to six or seven of them for full days, and maybe ten in total if you split a few days.
 
VISA
You don’t need a visa to travel to the United States if the purpose of your visit solely is for a holiday. If you plan to combine work and holiday, certain jobs require that you apply to the US embassy for a visa. Also, if you live in Ireland but have a passport from another country, check the US Department of State website to ensure you are from one of the 37 countries in the visa waiver programme. For instance, although almost all EU countries are included, Poland is not, so Polish citizens living here will still have to apply for tourist visas.
That said, anyone planning to enter the US on the visa waiver program still needs to complete the ESTA process. This is the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation and you can apply online at esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/
An ESTA costs $14 (around €10.25) and remains valid for two years of trips to the US. Be warned – there are many websites that offer to get an ESTA for you and charge an additional fee. There is no need to do this when you can do it all yourself on the official website of the department of Homeland Security. Do have your travel documents to hand as you will need the address you will be staying at for the holiday.
 
TWO-CENTRE HOLIDAYS
It’s easy to combine a week at the parks with a week at the beach. Clearwater on the Gulf coast is popular and has a pristine beach. On the Atlantic coast, you can choose from quieter resorts such as New Smyrna Beach or, if you don’t mind a three-hour drive, strike out for Palm Beach or South Beach in Miami.
Florida also is the cruise capital of the US and you could spend a week in Orlando before embarking on a seven-night Caribbean cruise.
 
OTHER AREA ATTRACTIONS
Kennedy Space Center – kennedyspacecenter.com – offers tours of the facility from which all the Apollo and Space Shuttle missions were launched. It’s a fascinating day out for adults and older children and you will see the Space Shuttle Atlantis. You can ride simulators that allow you to feel what a launch is like for the astronauts, and you actually will meet an astronaut. Tickets cost $50 for adults and $40 for children.  
 
Legoland Florida is about 45 minutes from the Orlando theme parks. Tickets cost from $69 per adult and $62 per child. See florida.legoland.com
 
When people say they have been to Orlando, they most likely haven’t. Millions visit the area every year without ever seeing the city itself, which is around 20km north of the main theme parks. It’s a little soulless but there still are a few good bars and restaurants in the Church Street Station district (visitchruchstreet.com). Depending on the time of year, basketball fans may be able to get their hands on tickets for an Orlando Magic game at the Amway Center. Check the website – nba.com/magic/ - for fixtures and availability.
You also should check out historic neighbourhoods such as Winter Park (cityofwinterpark.org)   
 
SHOPPING
The best shopping malls are the Florida Mall and the Mall at Millenia (mallatmillenia.com). The latter is the better of the two and has an Apple store, Banana Republic, Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, Jimmy Choo, Sephora and Pottery Barn, and department stores Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and Neiman Marcus. There’s also a brilliant food court and other stand-alone bars and restaurants.  
 
For most, the big attraction will be the outlet malls. The two main malls are at opposite ends of International Drive. Orlando Premium Outlets-International Drive (handiest to Universal Studios) has 180 shops, and Orlando Premium Outlets-Vineland Avenue (handiest to Kissimmee and Disneyworld) has 160 shops. All the usual suspects – Nike, Adidas, Gap etc – are in both.
 
Never been to a big-box store? The best is the Walmart Supercenter on Turkey Lake Road. You’ll also find large K-Marts, Targets and Home Depots in the area. Check out the store locators on walmart.com, kmart.com, homedepot.com and target.com
 
EATING OUT
Florida has branches of every major chain. If you’re looking for something a little less generic, Sand Lake Road between Interstate 4 and Apopka-Vineland Road has a great selection of restaurants offering more upmarket fare – in fact, it is known to locals as Restaurant Row and is one of the few places you might actually meet locals! My personal recommendations are Seasons 52, Big Fin Seafood Kitchen and Bonefish Grill. On International Drive, the Brick House Tavern + Tap has a great selection of food and beers that come in bongs from which you can serve yourself. See brickhousetavernandtap.com  
 
- Philip Nolan, Irish Mail on Sunday