Holiday in Florida

[zeberdee]

Hi all,
I am planing a holiday in Florida for 2005 or 2006. I would like to know of any thing worth a look at, apart from the obvious: Universal studios, Disney, Water world? any air museums ww2 museums for me
We are hoping to go for two weeks and would like to see as much as possible we will be hireing a car so could travel. Many thanks Chris

[Hagar]

Hi Chris. Speaking as a fellow-Brit,, Florida is one of my favourite places on this planet. There's so much to do you will have a job fitting it all in over 2 weeks. You will need to plan every day carefully to get the best out of it. I often travel alone & on one visit I found a little State Tourist office near my hotel which was very handy. I made friends with the lady in there & told her I wanted to see more than usual attractions. She kindly suggested places to visit every day I was there. I could also buy the tickets from her at reduced prices so that worked out fine.

I assume you'll be going to the Orlando area. Two essentials as far as you're concerned are Kermit Weeks' "Fantasy of Flight" museum & Tom Reilly's warbird restoration outfit at Kissimmee airport. There's also the Space Museum at Cape Canaveral.

I haven't visited for some years so I expect there's even more to see now. Felix or one of the other residents will be able to fill in the details. Whatever you find to do I'm certain you'll enjoy it.

[Jared]

check out nasa, and try and make it when a shuttle or rocket launches.. ;-) I've heard it is a one in a lifetime thing to see! :-)

[Hagar]

check out nasa, and try and make it when a shuttle or rocket launches.. ;-) I've heard it is a one in a lifetime thing to see! :-)

Going by what a friend told me they don't allow visitors on the actual site when a launch is due. There are special viewing areas or you can see the launch from miles away. If you want to see the Space Museum itself it's better to go at a different time.

[Craig.]

just remember, when you say you will be able to drive to various places, plan carefully, its very easy to rack up some serious miles in America without realising it, in 5 days we managed to total up almost 1000 miles on the road  

[Hagar]

[quote]just remember, when you say you will be able to drive to various places, plan carefully, its very easy to rack up some serious miles in America without realising it, in 5 days we managed to total up almost 1000 miles on the road

[Craig.]

LOL i agree it is more pleasent, certainly helps when the cars are a good size with pretty muc everything you need:). 55 was pretty much the speed limits on the highways when we were there. The major interstates were 70 though?

[zeberdee]

Wow thanks for the replies the villas we're looking at are near Kissimmee so those at the airport are a definate for me . To see a launch is a must for us Disney for the kids just got to find some where to loose the better half!!!!
Re distance, the kids are used to 3-4 hrs in a car so any where in that sort of radius is a possiblity. Many thanks, regards Chris.

P.S Hagar do you have any of your fantastic pictures of those museums?

[Craig.]

Hi Chris
There is a beach you can watch a launch from, i am going to guess that its cocoa beach, but i might be wrong so please feel free to correct me.

[Hagar]

certainly helps when the cars are a good size with pretty muc everything you need:).

Well that depends on the car you have. When I'm on my own I prefer a small car, small by US standards anway. Even more important now with the increase in petrol prices. My favourite was a brand new Toyota Corolla, no bigger than the car I drive at home. I loved it & tried to get hold of one when I got home. Unfortunately they didn't do the same model over here at the time.

This brings back some wonderful memories.

[zeberdee]

[quote] in 5 days we managed to total up almost 1000 miles on the road

[zeberdee]

Hi Hagar

It has to be a "mini van" for us: me, Wendy, the four kids, Push chair and my wheelchair. I thought gas was cheaper over there? If not we'll just have to save more!
Regards Chris

[Craig.]

much cheaper:)

[Hagar]

Wow thanks for the replies the villas we're looking at are near Kissimmee so those at the airport are a definate for me . To see a launch is a must for us Disney for the kids just got to find some where to loose the better half!!!!
Re distance, the kids are used to 3-4 hrs in a car so any where in that sort of radius is a possiblity. Many thanks, regards Chris.

Don't tell Felix but I prefer Kissimmee to Orlando & always stay there. It's very close to Disney, just a short drive up the road & most hotels run a free shuttle service. Tom Reilly's place is on the airport but Fantasy of Flight is in Polk County if I remember correctly. It's not far & you must try to get there.

I don't know when you're thinking of going but it's not likely there will be a launch while you're there. I don't think there's been one since the terrible disaster some time ago. This would be purely a matter of luck.

P.S Hagar do you have any of your fantastic pictures of those museums?

I might have a few but these would be taken with my ordinary camera & will need scanning. I'll look them out when I have a few moments. They won't be anything like the quality of my latest shots. FoF had only just opened when I visited & I believe it's a lot different now. Things change so quickly in the US compared with what we're used to.

PS. Gas is a lot cheaper than our petrol. I think it's something over $2 US per gallon now, which is still a great deal cheaper. It was something like 75 cents per gallon when I first visited.

Mind you, the exchange rate is pretty good at the moment. Almost 2 dollars to the pound.

[Craig.]

Hi Doug its back down last time i checked into the
$1.80's or was in Mississippi.

We did more than that around Bristol and Bath this summer that was two weeks though!

Why would you want to do that  although i did rack up quite a few miles going to school in bath and living in bristol.

The only thing i will say about the miles in the US we did were mainly because it was the middle of nowhere, tupelo was over 20 miles away and we did multiple trips there, plus trips to huntsville 130 miles and memphis 120 they racked up quite quick.  With Doug saying everything is close enough to each other, that shouldnt be such a problem.

don't know when you're thinking of going but it's not likely there will be a launch while you're there. I don't think there's been one since the terrible disaster some time ago. This would be purely a matter of luck.

Wernt they looking at relaunching the shuttle program early next year?