The Noyes know how much of a ‘big kid’ I am when it comes to the Orlando Theme Parks, so they were confident to ask me to plan their eagerly anticipated family holiday over Easter 2020.
By September 2018, I had secured everything for their 15-night stay, adding theme park tickets the following summer, and then it was a nine-month countdown to departure.
Then Covid hit and lingered long enough to enforce multiple re-schedules, and then a mere two years after the original travel dates, they finally made it to Florida!
I was so relieved and happy to receive their pictures and texts en route, and mum Sarah’s fantastic blog when they got back...
We knew from the day they were born that we would want to take our two children to Disney World and decided that ten and seven would be nice ages. Old enough to not need pushchairs but young enough to still feel the magic.
After four years of saving, Amanda arranged an incredible-sounding 17-day adventure for April 2020. Spoiler alert - we did not get to go on that trip!
Instead, Amanda and I spent the next two years re-booking the holiday four times due to Covid and travel restrictions. I cannot tell you how glad we were to have Amanda as our agent – she took full responsibility of the stress, taking charge of contacting the villas, hotels, car hire, and re-organising theme park tickets.
By the time Easter 2022 rolled around, none of us truly believed we were going on holiday, so it was a surprise to find ourselves on the plane.
After a good flight and an unexpectedly quick walk through US border control, we picked up our lovely Jeep Cherokee rental and arrived at our villa by 5pm.
We were in Florida to do the parks, and the parks we did! We decided to kick things off on day one with a classic: Disney’s Magic Kingdom. It would be an understatement to say this was an education!
After a 20-minute drive to the park (and paying £25 for the pleasure), you must wait for a tram to take you to the entrance, from where you either take the monorail or a ferry to reach the park itself, and even after entering, there is still a long walk before getting to any rides.
The Magic Kingdom is huge, and the crowds and heat were overwhelming, especially after two years of social distancing. Although April, it was around 30 degrees daily but felt hotter in the parks where there is not much shade.
We arrived in time to watch a parade; however, our anticipated plans of Disney magic had been scuppered as we no longer had a ten and seven-year-old but instead a 12 and ten-year-old. Let’s just say Mickey Mouse and Cinderella weren’t doing it for them!
A 50-minute wait in the unrelenting heat for a poor Buzz Lightyear shooting game was followed by paying $50 for two hot dogs, two pretzels and a diet coke - no one was having much fun.
So, we cut our losses and found the lovely Jungle Cruise before heading back to the villa for a refreshing swim.
It was time to re-assess. No point bothering with the hassle or expense of the new Genie+ (fast pass) to jump the queues, and the park in the middle of the day is horrible - hot, crowded and crazy wait times.
Option 1: Set alarms for 6 am, be there for “rope drop” and run to the desired rides. This was quickly and unanimously ruled out. We’re a family who likes our sleep and starting the day leisurely.
Option 2: Try a new tactic. We woke at 9am, ate a small breakfast at the villa, sunbathed and swam until midday, then headed to the Fords Garage for lunch, a big hit with my burger-loving family.
We returned to the villa for more swimming and lazing, before heading to Disney’s Hollywood Studios for 4pm. The park temperature was already better, and the crowds seemed lighter. My husband walked straight onto the Rock n Roller rollercoaster (rated “a solid 8”) and most rides were around half an hour’s wait time. My daughter loved Slinky Dog, while my son and I laughed a lot in the Toy Story Mania shooting game. Everyone thought the new Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway was amazing – clever and a lot of fun - and the hilarious Muppets 4D experience was fabulous (no spoilers!).
As the evening drew in, we wandered through the new Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, a must for any fan. The theming is exceptional with lots of little details. We didn’t bother with the rides, but I hear the Rise Of The Resistance is exceptional.
The next day we relaxed with lunch at Red Lobster followed by an afternoon at Typhoon Lagoon Waterpark which was a big hit.
The park is encircled by a warm and pleasurable lazy river, with stop-off points at the different slide areas. The adventurous pair (husband and daughter) enjoyed the drop slides and water coasters, whilst the scaredy cats (the other two!) enjoyed the river and jumping the (enormous and surprisingly powerful) lagoon waves. Hold on to your sunglasses!
Next up was the Animal Kingdom, which is basically a zoo with a few rides, much more shaded and the crowds felt manageable. We lunched at Denny’s before heading there for the afternoon and evening. Big hits were the Expedition Everest Coaster, The Kilimanjaro Safaris (a drive around the animal enclosures), the Kali River Rapids (you WILL get wet) and Avatar.
I loved the Na’vi River Journey in Pandora though everyone else was a bit “meh” about it. The Pandora theming is out of this world, which is good because you’re meant to be on an alien planet. It is simply beautiful and worth the visit regardless of waiting for Avatar, my husband’s favourite ride - three times with waits of 50, 55 and 80 mins respectively, though he did come off buzzing each time.
We didn’t enjoy Epcot and came home early. I think tiredness had set in, so we spent Easter Sunday at base, learning to dive, scoffing Panda Express and watching thunderstorms.
The Magic Kingdom was deemed worthy of another try so after a big “Dunch” (late lunch/ early dinner) at the Outback Steak House, we arrived late afternoon. It was so much nicer; still hot, but as the sun started setting many families headed home and the cooler temperature was welcome. The park closes at 11pm, so there is plenty of time for night rides.
The coaster junkies enjoyed both Thunder and Space Mountain whilst the scaredy cats liked the Barnstormer and Peter Pan. The fireworks were, of course, excellent.
After ten days of villa sunbathing and Disney parks, it was time to relocate to the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal. Amanda had expertly advised booking an adjacent hotel with Express Passes included and our Rock Star Suite was so much fun, including the kids having their own room.
The family agreed the two Universal parks won out over the Disney ones. Mostly it was the ease that made it more fun, taking just seven minutes to walk into Universal Studios, the closest park.
Consequently, the following day's schedule was simple: Up and into one park for 10am. Grab food and queue jump some rides (thank you Express Pass). Head back to the hotel pool at midday for sunbathing until early evening. Shower, head to City Walk to spend a ridiculous amount on dinner before heading to the other park for more queue jumping and rides.
We were able to experience every ride we wanted to, often multiple times, never feeling too tired and hardly having to wait in a queue.
Note: Express Passes don’t cover the Velociocoaster (my daughter’s favourite, they waited 45 mins), the Pteranodon Flyers (my son’s favourite, a slow and boring 50 min wait) or Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure (always queues of 110mins plus so we skipped it.)
One of the main draws is the amazing Harry Potter theming. There’s London (Diagon Alley) in Universal Studios and with multi-park tickets, you can take the Hogwarts Express over to the Island of Adventure and visit Hogsmead and the Hogwarts Castle. Our photos don’t do it justice - the rides are awesome, and the queues are inside the buildings with lots of lovely things to look at.
After six wonderful days at Universal, it was time to pack up and head home. Our time in Florida was fabulous, despite being expensive and exhausting, and we are glad to have ticked it off the bucket list.
We are looking forward to booking a much more relaxing holiday with Amanda for 2023.
Sarah