Attractions & The Costs of a Florida Vacation
Each year FLORIDA attracts millions of visitors from all over Europe, Asia Pacific and the US seeking a fun packed vacation. This often includes a visit to the theme parks, the beach or a mixture of both. The most popular destination by far is Orlando recognized as the undisputed theme park capital of the world attracting over 34 million visitors every year.
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Attractions & The Costs of a Florida Vacation
Sandra works for http://www.floridavillas192.com, a web site specialising in marketing privately owned villas to holiday makers.
Known as the “sunshine state” Florida boasts a true tropical climate with almost year long sunshine and for the visitors looking to soak up the sun there are over 1200 miles of coastline with fantastic golden sands. For visitors willing to seek entertainment away from the theme parks and beaches there are plenty of other destinations such as the Florida Everglades, home to the alligators, NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre where the space shuttle launches from as well as the St Augustine historical city.
Key Attractions
Since the opening of Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom in 1971 Orlando has gone on to establish itself as the worlds most popular vacation destination with more theme parks than any where else. Now known as Walt Disney World Resort and the size of Manchester tourists have the choice of the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom in addition to Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach water parks. Also close to Orlando the choices on offer include 2 Universal parks including Islands of Adventure and the Universal Studios whilst Sea World has its main park and the smaller Discovery Cove. International Drive, known locally as I Drive, is at the centre of Orlando’s entertainment hub and hosts a number of other interesting sites such as Wet-n-Wild a large water park with dozens of water slides, Ripleys Believe It or Not, Wonder Works and Titanic the Exhibition. Part of the Sea-world empire and a short drive from Orlando in Tampa, you will find Busch Gardens, a theme park offering a combination of wild animals and wild rides.
With so many miles of coastline Florida offers sun seekers a massive choice of beach’s. From Daytona Beach on Florida’s North West coast to the white sandy beaches of Clearwater on the Gulf Coast to the famous stretch of sands from Palm Beach south to Miami. The Daytona beach stretches for 23 miles and is unique in allowing cars to be driven up and parked on the sands. A hangover from the days when motor enthusiasts raced on the beach. Close by is Daytona International Speedway famous for the Daytona 500 motor race. Even longer beaches may be found on the gulf coast, particularly popular with Floridians, where 28 miles of sand stretching from Clearwater in the north down south to Sarasota where excellent sports facilities may be found.
Whilst the majority of visitors to Florida will spend time at either the theme parks or beaches Florida does have America’s oldest continuously occupied European settlement in St Augustine which can be found on the east coast between Jacksonville and Daytona. The old town features picturesque narrow streets lined by attractive stone buildings – a stark contrast to the vibrant world of the theme parks.
Accommodation
Florida has a huge variety of places to stay suitable for all budgets and tastes from modern hotel suites situated in the theme parks to budget hotels offering the cheapest rates. Increasingly, family visitors are turning to privately owned villas for their accommodation as they offer greater flexibility, better quality and are normally far cheaper than the Hotel stays. There is certainly no shortage of villas in Florida, particularly close to the theme parks in Orlando or the beaches of the gulf coast resorts, where there are new developments springing up continually. Orlando areas such as Kissimmee play host to hundreds of luxury villas all within a very short drive of the Disney parks and the other centres of interest. In the larger villas it is easily possible for a number of families or couples to share the villa as many offer 2 or more en-suite bathrooms giving families their own privacy. Many villas are now available with private swimming pools and hot tubs in the backyard. There is no better way to wind down after a long day in the parks than relaxing in the pool with a cold beer.
Travelling around Florida
By far the best way to travel around Florida, particularly for those staying in Villas, is by car rental. Driving in Florida is a pleasure as most highways are un-crowded and with local drivers generally patient and courteous. The cost of driving, when compared to European costs, are much lower with cheap gasoline and car hire when booked in advance. However when planning longer journeys care is required not to underestimate distances as distances between some locations can take in excess of 5-6 hours.
Eating out in Orlando
As in the case of other cities in America eating out presents no problem with literally dozens of well known restaurants lining all the major roads in built up areas around the Orlando and Tampa regions.
Typical Costs
Villas:
The Cost Depends on the time of year, location and facilities etc. However a high end 6 bedroom villa with a pool/spa and 2 en-suite bathrooms on the Windsor Palms development costs around 1600 pounds for the 2 weeks. This equates to around 70 pounds per person/per week with 12 people occupancy.
Theme Parks:
Unfortunately there is little difference between the cost of a child ticket and an adult ticket in most of the main theme parks. Currently one of the best value tickets is a multi park ticket where visitors have unlimited access to 5 parks over a 14 day period. This costs around 165 pounds adult and 152 pounds pound for a child. The parks included on this ticket cover access to both Universal parks, Seaworld, Aquatica water park (all in Orlando) and Busch Gardens in Tampa. There are many other options available.
Flights:
Costs of flights will vary again depending on the time of the year and the time allowed for booking in advance. However it is possible to get scheduled direct flights from London Heathrow to Orlando for around 520 pounds with American Airlines. Cheaper flights can be obtained through non-direct flights or selecting a charter flight.
Hire Cars:
It is preferable to book car hire in advance to get the best rates but it is possible to hire a 4 door compact car for 2 weeks for 358 pounds including taxes. It would be useful to research insurance options that can add significant costs to the total.
Looking For More Information?
Make sure to explore other articles in the Air Travel category or contact us to suggest a website or a service to review.
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