The Sunshine State

In just a few weeks we are heading back to our happy place! Florida the sunshine state. We were there back in December when we went on Allure of the Seas. No cruise this time but we have decided to travel around Florida.

Firstly we are heading to Orlando for 6 nights. We normally stay in International Drive but have decided to stay on site this time. We have booked the Lowes Royal Pacific. The hotel is just around 5 min walk to the Universal parks. Although the hotel is a little more than staying on I Drive you get some great perks including early park admission and FREE Express passes. The Express passes alone can cost up to $80 per person per day. We have also gone with a club level room that gives us access to the club lounge with free breakfast, light snacks throughout the day and wine and beer for a couple of hours each evening.

This will be our first time visiting around Halloween and we have also got Halloween Horror nights tickets booked. Charlie is too young for this however the on site hotels offer a Kids Camp so the kids are looked after whilst the parents can get out for a few hours.

We also have tickets booked to Disneys Magic Kingdom for Mickeys not so scary Halloween party. This is a separate ticketed event from 6pm (after much re search we found out we can get into the park form 4pm) There are Halloween parades & fireworks along with trick or treating for the kids.

Having been to Orlando many times before (this will be our 5th time) We dont need to do all the parks every time. Back in December we visited Seaworld and Animal Kingdom. This time we plan on visiting Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and Magic Kingdom.

Once we are done in Orlando we are heading over to the Gulf Coast with a few nights booked in St Petersburg and plan on visiting Clearwater Aquarium and maybe a trip on the Sea Screamer. We then have a few nights booked in Fort Myers beach before heading back from Miami.

This just shows how many options you have if you decide to cruise from Florida. With departure ports of Port Canaveral, Fort Lauderdale and Miami you can really make your holiday your own. If you are looking to cruise from Florida give me a call and I can let you know some of my top recommendations including an amazing seafood restaurant in Cocoa Beach.