Universal Florida is a great place to go on your vacation. There are a total of 3 parks at Universal Florida is if you count the Wet N Wild water park. The emphasis of the next few posts will be on Universal Studios Orlando and Islands of Adventure.

Universal Florida is a movie based theme park. They have a sister studio in Hollywood California which I actually went to many years ago. As you can imagine a lot of the attractions and entertainment are movie or television based. For example, Twister, takes you through some of the processes used to make the movie Twister as well as the special effects. This is very entertaining. On the other end on the spectrum you have the Terminator 2:3D experience, which is probably really hoping now the release of the new Terminator movie coming up in a few days. You also have Jaws, Shrek, Fear Factor and the new Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit.

Next door at Islands of Adventure you get to visit your favorite cartoon, comic books, myths and legends. I may have hinted at this in one of the Disney post but The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man is my favorite ride in Orlando, and it's a ride good for almost everyone. One of my other favorite rides is Jurassic Park. Wow, the first time you ride this you will probably scream! There are also roller coasters, and other water based rides which we will cover in more detail later.

In the next few days we will be covering these two parks in detail!

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We have had a nice visit over the last couple of weeks of the 4 major Disney World theme parks. I really enjoy going to Disney World and experiencing what their parks have to offer. The parks are always clean, the service is great, and I have yet to come away with a totally bad experience at one of their parks.

Take advantage of the FastPass that is available at all of the Disney Parks. This can save you some wait time for the most popular rides. Try to go early, before the park opens if you have access to that, and head to the back of the park to enjoy those rides first. Then, as you work your way back to the front of the park you can hopefully benefit from shorter lines there as well.

I recommend a character breakfast if your budget allows. My favorite is at Magic Kingdom at Cinderella's castle. You can also take advantage of the character breakfast at Chef Mickey at the Contemporary resort (it is not necessary to stay at that resort to book the character breakfast there). I also enjoyed the Akershus Royal Banquet Hall breakfast at Epcot. You can check out my posts on the Disney FastPass and Character Breakfasts.

Make arrangements in advance to get your discounted tickets as well as book your Orlando vacation through ReserveOrlando.com. Check out my post on ReserveOrlando.com

Personally my favorite Disney World theme park is Epcot. I just enjoy the various attractions and the entertainment at that park. I also like the way it is layed and never seems as crowded as some of the other parks even though I know there are just as many people there.

After Disney Epcot, for me, it is basically a tie between Animal Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom. Both of these parks are very enjoyable with plenty of attractions, entertainment and dining. I do find that these parks appear a little more crowded just based on the way they are designed. Also, I think a lot of people who travel to Disney World for the first time feel obligated to go to Magic Kingdom as that is the park they have probably seen and read the most about. Bringing up the rear of the 4 major Disney World theme parks is Disney Hollywood. (Remember this is just my opinion). Disney Hollywood is a nice park and it is worth your time to check it out. For a movie based theme park I prefer Universal Studios.

So, if you landed on this post as a first time reader, please take the time to go back and read all of my posts on Disney World as I think you will find them meaningful and helpful as you plan your first trip to Disney World. Also, I strongly recommend you make the investment in the "Ultimate Disney World Savings Guide". You will find a tab for it at the top right corner of this blog.

Tomorrow we will continue our trip to Orlanda with a visit to Universal Studios!

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Disney Animal Kingdom is a large park and there are many attractions to enjoy during your visit. I want to highlight some of the attractions that you can enjoy on your next Orlando Vacation.



Disney Animal Kingdom Attractions

• Expedition Everest - This is the newest attraction at Animal Kingdom. During my last visit this ride was actually under construction. This ride looks like it's a blast. It is basically a roller coaster type ride for the big kid visitors to Animal Kingdom. Sharp drops, hairpin turns, all wrapped around and through Mt. Everest.


• Kilimanjaro Safari - I talked about this attraction in yesterday's post. It is a must do ride at the Animal Kingdom and it is for all ages. See details on Kilimanjaro Safari.


• Kali River Rapids - Warning! You will get wet on this ride...and that's not necessarily a bad thing! This a fun river rapid type ride in a large circular raft. The ride is experiences a 90 foot drop and has lots of twists and turns. Watch out for the water fall! Did I say you would get wet? You will. Take advantage of the storage to keep your shoes and socks dry. Your clothes will dry quickly but it's nice not to squish for the next hour or so in wet shoes.


• Maharajah Jungle Trek - A walk through an Indian Jungle where you will encounter ruins and tigers and a few other exotic animals. This is an enjoyable attraction.


• The Tree of Life - This is very cool and another must do attraction at Animal Kingdom. This is located in the center of the park. You can't miss it. Inside the The Tree of Life is a theater where you will see the #d show It's Tough To Be A Bug! This is really funny with lot's of surprises. Everyone can enjoy this and it's good place to cool off and have a short respite during your day at the park.

There are many other attractions within Disney Animal Kingdom but these are my favorites and the most popular. You will need an entire day to visit this park. Tomorrow we will discuss dining and entertainment at the Animal Kingdom.

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Disney Animal Kingdom is one of my favorite Disney World theme parks. As you can imagine from the name the focal point of the Animal Kingdom is the opportunity to get unique viewing opportunities of animals normally found in Africa. The park is huge, covering more than 500 acres, and it is home to more than 1700 animals.

My favorite attraction at the Animal Kingdom is the Kilimanjaro Safaris. The ride takes you on an African safari where you get to see giraffes, elephants, lions, and many, many other wild animals in a very natural environment. You ride in a safari type vehicle (see picture), think large army type truck with rows of seats, that is open air allowing you many opportunities to photograph the animals. This is a must do ride and it is for all ages. My suggestion is to go to this attraction first. The animals tend to be out more in the mornings due to the cooler weather and also due to feeding times.

My favorites show in the Disney World Parks is also at the Animal Kingdom and that is the Festival of the Lion King. All I can really say about this show is WOW! Get there early and try to sit on the first row or two. If you don't that's ok because all of the seats are good. This is a 30 minute Broadway caliber show with amazing costumes, amazing singing, and amazing performances by the monkeys, the giraffes, Timon, Pumba, all of them. I will say this, if you only see one "show" in your entire trip to Orlando, see this one!

There are many dining opportunities, and we will talk about those in a future post, but my suggestion is call in advance and make lunch reservations for the Rain Forest Cafe located near the entrance to the park. It's a great place to cool off and the food is very good. And of course you have the entertainment inside the cafe as well!

Details tomorrow on the various attractions at Disney Animal Kingdom.

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