Disneyworld Family holiday

Let’s start off with the elephant in the room; it’s expensive! Post Covid the economy in the States has sky- rocketed combined with a poor exchange rate doesn’t make it as cheap as it once was. That said, the magic of these parks is unmatched. What I can guarantee that it’s a holiday worth saving up for! We stayed onsite at both Universal and Disney as wanted to experience both. We used the complementary shuttle buses; no driving, no parking charges ($30 per day at Disney), no traffic! Plus, you get the advantage of early park access, one whole hour of fun before the park opens to the public. Cabana Bay was our hotel choice at Universal; fun, casual, and just a 5 min walk to Volcano Bay waterpark, it even has a bowling alley and Lazy river - think 1950’s USA theming.

Universal Islands of Adventure is home to ‘Hogsmeade’; A Harry Potter fan’s dream! Best ride for me was Hagrid’s Motorbike adventure. Followed by the VelociCoaster, located in Jurassic world. The Hogwart’s Express train is unmissable and takes you to Universal Studios theme park. They also have a very well executed Dr Suess world for the younger kids and a Marvel themed area for those older. Universal Studios is a separate park within Universal which has different areas copied from the architecture of New York, San Francisco and LA, as well as the ever popular Minion Land, some old school rides such as Men in Black, E.T and Transformers. A newer addition is Diagon Alley, another Harry Potter favourite, I won’t spoil any surprises but make sure you go to ‘Escape from Gringotts’. Volcano Bay is Universal’s waterpark which is fantastic, lots of fun with the wave pool and frolics on water slides, you can easily spend a chilled day here. Epic is their new park, opened May 2025 and requires an extra ticket. Whilst it’s undoubtably visually stunning we were left with mixed feelings. It’s still new, only 3 months old when we visited and drawing big crowds which means long queues. Not sure they have the numbers nailed just yet but give them time and this could change. It’s set around the impressive Celestial Park; an area with a restaurant, a pool with fountains and a huge carousel. Off this main park are four other parks: Dark Universe, How to train your Dragon, Harry Potter and Super Nintendo world. The design is amazing. We loved the Ministry of Magic Harry Potter ride and the Stardust racers rollercoaster where you race another coaster on dual tracks. We ate in Toadstool café in Nintendo world which was fun, even though the food was mediocre. Did Epic live up to it’s name? Does it justify the extra cost? I can’t comment for everyone but it left me with the question, ‘was it more style over substance’? Universal also has it’s CityWalk an area full of dining and entertainment.

We took a break from the parks, hired a car and drove out to Cocoa Beach on the Atlantic coast, on the way we stopped off at Wild Florida, a wildlife park in the Everglades National Park. It has airboats and a plethora of animals; crocs, sloths, monkeys, reptiles and birds. A ride on an Airboat is an unmissable thing to do in the Sunshine State! Cocoa beach is an authentic surf town with a beautiful beach and no pretensions. It is also a great base for visiting Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral. We had fun in the surf and the Space Centre is well worth a visit. We were hoping that we’d get to see a rocket launch, checked the schedule and there was one the following day. Next stop; Daytona Beach and stayed at the Hard Rock hotel which was set right on the beautiful 23-mile-long beach. Back in the day they used to race cars along the beach, these days you can even drive your car on the beach! Daytona is home to the International Speedway-for Nascar fans it’s a must. There was a race on so we couldn’t join a tour of the speedway but it’s open most days. However, we got to see SpaceX’s rocket launch into space from Cape Canaveral along the coast. It was an incredible experience, we even heard the sonic boom when the rocket’s booster returned to earth. It’s a feeling you’ll remember for the rest of your life. We dropped the car back off at Disney (before a stop at the massive Walmart to stock up on snacks and fruit) to our home at Port Orleans Riverside resort, a laid-back picturesque onsite resort. After the immersive days spent in the park it was a welcome retreat. A nice touch was the ‘Hey Disney’ voice assistant in your room which would wake you up or send you to sleep with a character’s message. We spent six nights so to have five days and take a park per day; Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and a waterpark at either Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon - I’ll admit we did both waterparks and had more fun at Blizzard Beach, although the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon was fun. Disney Springs is accessible to everyone and is a retail and restaurant/bar area. We took a river boat there straight from our resort. We were on a dining plan and took the Quick Service plan which included two meals per day. Our ticket also included the Magic Pass which takes your ride photos and loads them onto the ‘MyDisney’ App. Highlights were meeting favourite characters: Chewbacca, Minnie Mouse, Darth Vader Sully from Monsters Inc. and Edna from the Incredibles, Darling! Galaxy’s’ Edge, the amazing Avatar virtual reality ride (I didn’t want the ride to end), Guardians of the Galaxy and Tron rollercoasters and the food and different areas at Epcot! The grand finale was fireworks at Disney’s Magic Kingdom over the Cinderella castle!

I love exploring new places so ended with two nights in the vibrant city of Chicago! Set on Lake Michigan which is 58,000 square miles, bigger than the UK! It looks like a sea rather than a lake. Chicago is home to the world’s first sky-scrapers and deep pan pizza (slice of pie anyone?) Best things to do are: take a river cruise, go up the Willis Tower at 1451ft tall, take in a ball game at Wrigley Field -home to the Cubs or Rate Field home of the White Sox. Cycle or jog the boardwalk lining the lake front, play volleyball on the beach, swim in the lake, go to the free City Zoo in Lincoln Park, view the famous Cloud Gate Sculpture in Millenium Park.