The Land of Disney. Review on Florida

In a week, I will be two years old in Florida. On my way from Memphis to here, I had mixed feelings of nervousness and excitement. Now as I write this, I can definitely say that I made the right choice. Florida is not called the tourist state without any reason. It has every ingredient to make for an ideal vacation destination for all age groups. Let us start from the most popular tourist spot in the state.

Walt Disney World: It is every kid?s dream to visit Disney at least once in lifetime. The land of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, a theme park and resort located southwest of Orlando in the heart of Florida is the single largest crowd puller in Florida. Much has been said about it in other reviews on Florida, the best one to check out would be the one by Cousin2 at https://mouthshut.com/review/Florida-18878-1.html.

Universal Studios: Located on the outskirts of Orlando, it is a theme park with various rides related with the popular movies presented by the production and distribution house. The rides here are really thrilling and the best one to check out is Shrek, a 4-D ride. And the list includes ? Revenge of the Mummy, Terminator 2 (3-D), ET adventure, Men in Black ? Alien Adventure and the terrifying roller coaster Earthquake ? The Big One.

Kennedy Space Center: 45 miles east of Orlando, it is US? premier gateway to Universe and world?s only launch pad for space shuttle. Visit to the center includes a museum, abandoned space shuttles and several other exhilarating experiences. It is a must visit for those who are really into exploring Space. I was fortunate enough to be able to witness live shuttle launch on the day I visited the center. The NASA scenes in Swades were shot at Kennedy Space Center.

Everglades National Park: Located on the southern tip of Florida, Everglades National Park (ENP) is the only subtropical preserve in North America. The park has typical tropical atmosphere, rich bird life and tones of alligators. ENC has been designated as a World Heritage Site, an International Biosphere Reserve, and a Wetland of International Importance.

Key West: Southern most tip of United States, the place known as gateway to Central America. The place is more popular among youth and and the reasons are water sports, dolphins, gorgeous beaches and of course beautiful sunsets. Key West is inarguably the most beautiful area in Florida. And if you are driving to Key West, you may want to spend a night in a small satellite of Miami, Coconut Grove, famous for its night life ? it is the most popular destination for young trucks ? polled as #1 popular dating spot in the state.

Your Gateway to Caribbean and Grand Bahamas Islands: Fort Lauderdale is your gateway to these hot tourists destinations. Both of these are quite popular among honeymooners and believe it or not the place from where the cruise ships depart is only quarter of a mile from my home.

There are several other attractions in Florida and since the state has been blessed with enormous amount of ocean on three sides, the beaches are the second strongest magnet attracting tourists to the state. Florida?s economy is thriving due to tourist flocking the state every year in winter months and that has allowed the state to do away from Income Taxes coupled with low sales taxes.

Some dos and don?ts:

~The best time period to visit Florida is October to April. From May to September the weather turns tropical and it practically rains everyday. And the days when there are no clouds, scorching sun with inordinately high UV rays will eat your skin. Sunscreen lotion is a must all year long.

~Public transportation is dismal. The best and cheapest way is your own car. Now you must exercise some cautions while indulging in road travel here.

~There are several toll roads and tolls in some popular destinations such as Orlando run immoderately high. However, you may end up losing valuable time and gas (it is getting expensive here, $2.00 per gallon) by opting for freeways.

~Proper planning of routes, continuous update on traffic and weather is must. Check your local radio listing for traffic and weather stations.

~Since, several tourists venture on a road trip without proper planning, you will definitely bump into someone driving at 40 MPH on a 45MPH minimum speed limit highway. Add to that retirees who can barely see at the age of 80 driving on a 2-lane freeway. Add to that youngsters like me in their 20s driving at 90MPH on a 70MPH maximum speed limit highway.

~Orlando Airport is extremely beautiful, in fact it has been voted as the most beautiful airport in US. And my experience with several airports in the world including, New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, New Ark, JFK International Airport and LaGuardia Airport in New York, Memphis, Knoxville, Nashville, New Orleans, Houston, Tampa, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville and Orlando airports endorse the finding of the poll. (The worst airport according to me is Frankfurt ? avoid it at any cost).

~If you are planning to go to Key West, make sure that you check on the activities occurring in the area. We did not do it and on the day of our visit, there was a gay festival underway and we had to flee the place within two hours. Do not go to Key West in last week of October ? the week of Fantasy Fest. It is the Florida version of infamous New Orleans Mardi Gras.

~On your way to the South Florida ? a three word sentence may come quite handy ? ?no hablo español?(I do not speak Spanish). Areas south of Fort Lauderdale are quite dense with Cuban population and there will be places where people will start talking with you in Spanish, since Indians look quite like Hispanics.

And for more information, you can visit the official Florida website myflorida.com ? and if you happen to visit Florida, you will be damned if you forget to contact me. Happy travelling.