2010′s Popular Vacation Destinations Part 1: Orlando, Florida
In this post series I will be giving you the 411 on 2010′s 3 most popular vacation spots according to a survey conducted by the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA). The number one concern this summer is traveling on a budget while still being able to do some of the most amazing things a place has to offer.
The first location has multiple theme parks with so much imagination at times it feels as if you have crossed into a different world! Orlando has been a top vacation spot for years as it is home to the “greatest place on Earth”: Disney World!
Orlando’s “Popular” Reputation Is Well Deserved
Well first and foremost is Orlando is home to seven theme parks and most notably Disney World and Universal Orlando! Both places are parks within parks meaning there are separate attractions within the family. For example in the Disney World circle there are six parks on Disney property:
At the Night Cinderella's Castle is lit up by dramatic lighting!
- Magic Kingdom Park – features attractions and rides based on the beloved Disney characters and stories
- Epcot – Attractions and entertainment that celebrates technological innovation as well as the culture and cuisine of 11 nations.
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park – One of the World’s largest animal-theme park full of attractions and adventures.
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios – Theme park that offers attractions, shows, and tours that circles around Hollywood action.
- Disney’s Blizzard Beach – Known for one of the World’s tallest water slide, this water park feature rides and slides the whole family will enjoy.
- Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon – Boasts fast water slides, a children’s area with pint-sized raft rides, Surf Pool with six-foot waves, and a snorkel Shark Reef—with real sharks!
Every year Disney tries to make the experience at a Disney Park a whole new one giving vacationers new reasons to revisit the parks. I wanted to show you all this video but I could not add the video itself to the post but follow the link to check out this video for new additions to the Disney Parks!
Disney World clearly has something for everyone and deciding which attraction your going to visit is the least of your worries since Disney offers a ticket option called a park hopper. But the big decision comes down to deciding which theme park to visit because Orlando does not just have Disney World but also has Universal Studios an entirely different theme park with different experiences.
Universal Orlando describes itself as,
Universal Orlando® Resort is more than a theme park. It’s an entire universe of action and thrills featuring TWO spectacular theme parks unlike anything else in Orlando.
Universal’s two theme parks are Islands of Adventure which focuses on bring myths, comic books, cartoons, and stories to life whereas Universal Studios brings the art of Hollywood to life.
Part of Hogwarts in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando
The big news surrounding Universal Orlando is that in June the much-anticipated opening of Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It is the first theme park based of the phenomenal book series of Harry Potter. Some of the feature attractions include:
- Dine at places like the Three Broomsticks where you can drink Butterbeer, a place and refreshment featured in the books.
- Pick up some chocolate frogs at Honeydukes.
- Ride the Dragon Challenge which is a twin roller coaster that features a high-speed chase across the sky
- Hope on the Hippogriff which shows the whole world of Hogwarts at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
And that’s just a few adventures that await Harry Potter fanatics who will definitely be amongst the families who invade Orlando this summer.
Orlando offers adventure and fun with the multiple parks available to vacationers from water parks to classic theme parks to adventure parks, new worlds are waiting for vacationers to explore. There always great vacation packages or something my family has done in the past is pick a park like Disney World and purchase a park hopper ticket for 5 days that way you explore everything a resort has to offer! It is land of unique sights in all one area kind of like our second location of Las Vegas, Nevada featured in part two of this post which is found here!
IMAGE CREDIT:
“Disney World Florida #050″, baldur // CC BY 2.0
“Ok all you Harry Potter nerds, here’s the Castle at Universal!”, herrea // CC BY 2.0
Jeff McIntire-Strasburg
Stefanie Larson
Alyssa Hutton
Kim Keplar
Kelly DiRie
Christine Parsons
Merideth Daly
Sally Howald
Nathan Maxwell
I like your use of pictures in this post. I also like that you’ve included features of the parks that every member of the family will like.
I really like the topic for you post series, but it makes me sad that I probably won’t be visiting these places any time soon.
You do a nice job explaining the uniqueness of Disney vs Orlando and I really liked that you talked about upcoming attractions too.
I would have liked a bit more on how to save money, though, since you mention it at the beginning.
I actually had research on that Alyssa but took it out as there is a lot of info on that already. But I am currently adding it for you I hope you find it useful!