Family fun in Florida

What a fantastic trip to Florida we had! Luckily, we chose a great time of year to visit with scary Halloween at Universal, Orlando and the not so scary at Disney. Disney then changed to Christmas with a huge tree welcoming you to magic Kingdom. Travelling with my family and my sister, brother in law, niece and nephew was great fun as we were all so excited to experience everything together. My niece Grace was so overwhelmed at Harry Potters Diagon Alley that she shed a few tears of joy and then again when arriving at Magic Kingdom. I will admit that I always get emotional at the Disney fireworks! We stayed for our first week at Hard Rock Hotel, onsite at Universal Orlando. This was definitely the best choice with two boys who loved the large pool and lively 'rock' ambience. Grace studies music so loved the celebrity memorabilia dotted around the hotel. The location was perfect as we could walk through the pretty gardens or take a boat to the entrance of both main parks and the new Volcano Bay Waterpark. Staying at the Hard Rock also gave us Queue Express so no waiting for us! The Harry Potter Worlds in both parks are outstanding and the train ride on the Hogwarts Express made it even more magical. You can truly immerse yourselves in all things Harry Potter. Eating lunch at the Leaky Cauldron was fun with the moving pictures and witches serving staff. Pumpkin juice and Butterbeer were definite favourites. There are so many incredible rides and 3D experiences at Universal it is hard to choose a holiday highlight! The look on my sister’s face after riding 'The Hulk' rollercoaster must be one of my highlights. She only went and rode it again... but it is an awesome ride! Moving to Disney's Polynesian Village for our next stay was also a great choice. The resort overlooks the lake and Magic Kingdom. The proximity to both Epcot and Magic Kingdom made it easy to travel between all parks and watching the Halloween fireworks from our resort beach was unforgettable. Onsite at the hotel was the 'Ohana' restaurant where we had a character breakfast with Lilo and Stitch. The dining plan included within our stay enabled us to dine in some top restaurants across the Disney parks including the 'Coral Reef' aquarium restaurant, 50's Prime diner and three character experiences. An onsite hotel allowed us free time to relax by the pool before returning for the evening firework shows. Great value for money with all included and some incredible family memories. To finish our Florida holiday Pete, Rowan and I sailed on the Disney Dream for a four-night cruise to the Bahamas. This is a must for any Disney fan as the memorabilia onboard is amazing. The ship has incredible children’s zones with Oceaneer Club and Lab. Rowan got to pilot the Millennium Falcon in the Star Wars area and take part in several messy games. His favourite area was the Disney Infinity room to play on the game consoles with any character he chose. We also took part in a detective trail using keys to unlock clues from moving artwork dotted around the ship. This was so interactive and fun that the adults all got involved too. The outside deck areas were plentiful with plenty of space for relaxing. The choice of activities was endless from wine tasting, cinema, sports and riding the water flume around deck. Food was plentiful with a different dining room every night. We dined in Enchanted Garden, Royal Palace and Animators Palate. The service was five star and Animators Palate was our favourite with the artwork coming to life with characters from Finding Nemo. We decided on our arrival back to Port Canaveral to hire a car for the day. This was so easy as the car rental company collected us from the cruise terminal and took us to our SUV. We drove to Kennedy Space Centre as it was only a 15-minute drive away. We learnt so much about space and exploration. The Saturn V rocket was huge, and we got slightly queasy on the launch simulator. A great day out for any space enthusiasts. The roads back to the airport were straightforward and this encouraged us to have car hire on our next visit to Florida. Looking back at our family holiday it's not hard to see why Florida has so many repeat visitors. We have only touched on a wealth of attractions to see and do...even more reason to return in the future!