Orlando for Floridians

Last year was the first time that I got the Florida Resident Walt Disney World Annual Pass. We bought it because we were saving our vacation days for the wedding and honeymoon. Orlando is only one hour away from Tampa. Sometimes if we find a good hotel deal we stay there. It is always nice to spend the night in Orlando after a long day at the parks. I feel that if I sleep in a hotel, I'm on vacation. Disney was a good option for us since I hadn't been to Magic Kingdom since 2000 and to Epcot since 2007. I had never been to Animal Kingdom or Disney Hollywood Studios. Andre's last visit to a Disney park was in 2008 when his family visited from Ecuador. In the past 11 months, we've visited each Disney Wold park once.

Epcot is my favorite Disney World theme park. My favorite part is the World Showcase with shops, attractions and restaurants from 11 countries: Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, United States, Japan, Morocco, France, United Kingdom, and Canada. My second favorite thing in Epcot is "Soarin". This simulated ride makes you fly over California. This is probably the only ride where we waited in line for over 1 hour. We don't do lines that are longer than 15 minutes. What I love about the annual passes is that there is no reason to do a 90 minute line because you can return any other day. The pictures below are from our previous visit to Epcot.

Epcot's Flower & Garden Festival 2011

Japan

Venezia

Paris

Epcot's Flower & Garden Festival 2011

I want to go at least one more time to Epcot and once to Animal Kingdom. If you want to see the pictures from our last visit to Animal Kingdom click here. 

I have to be careful with Minnie next time

Our Disney pass will expire in April. Until then, we will make a few more trips to Orlando. I don't think that we will be renewing it. I want to buy the Busch Gardens/Sea World Annual pass. I love Busch Gardens and I have never been to Sea World. It's time to meet Shamu.

Hand feeding the giraffes at Busch Gardens (2005)

There is a latin music festival, Viva la Musica, every April where famous latin singers/groups play at Busch Gardens and Sea World. This year El Grupo Niche will be playing in Sea World. They are a salsa group from my hometown in Colombia. They sing many songs about Cali and La feria de Cali. Cali is known as the Salsa capital of the world. When you live far away these songs make you very nostalgic. My sisters and I are big fans and we will be there to see them. Andre doesn't like to dance. We went to a party in Cali where El Grupo Niche was playing, and Andre enjoyed it very much. I'm sure that the aguardiente that night had a lot to do with it. He might come with us just to get out of town.

There are many other things to do in Orlando that I haven't done like the Blue Man Group show or having a drink at Ice Bar. I love going to Downtown Disney to walk around, or to have dinner at Bongos (Gloria Estefan's Cuban Restaurant). Cirque du Soleil has a permanent show, La Nouba, that I've seen several times. This show is probably the best of all the Cirque du Soleil shows that I've seen. Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure will probably be the season pass that we will like to buy the following year. I have been countless times to these parks, but still haven't been to the Harry Potter attraction. I have heard many good things about it and after watching the 8 movies I want to visit Hogsmeade. Orlando will always be a great option to change our routine and it is less than 80 miles away.