Orlando, Florida

I want to start this by saying I love Florida but Florida does not often love me. Florida spots the girl with English/Irish blood who turns tomato red within 10 minutes of being outside as well as hair that becomes a lion’s mane anytime she tries to brush it out in the humidity and hones in. Pretty much a very easy target. But I still will continue to visit anytime it allows me.

This recent trip was the first of hopefully many college girls’ trip. We’re located all across the country, and Orlando was a place we could all get to fairly easily and pretty cheap as well (I did learn my lesson on flying cheap though and will never be flying Spirit airlines again). Plus, we planned it for February when we’re normally craving some warmer weather and escaping the endless snow that tends to be happening in the Midwest. While we weren’t able to get all of us together for this trip, I’m already looking forward to the next adventure.

We stayed at the Marriott Grande Vista, and I would definitely recommend this for anyone looking for a little nicer but not ridiculously expensive kind of place. It’s an absolute massive complex with tennis courts, pickleball courts, three pools, and it is located right on a golf course. There’s a good mix of ages but it definitely steers towards the retiree. It’s located right in the middle between Universal and Disney so if you’re planning on going to one of the parks, you have endless options. My only negative I will say is that there were definitely not nearly enough lawnchairs for the amount of people that wanted to sit by the pool. But we had a lovely balcony which we spent a good amount of time catching up there.

Due to this being an incredibly short trip, we decided to make Saturday our one park day. And after going back and forth on which park, we decided on the original Universal Studios. I have never been to Universal so I was excited to check out somewhere new. If you are someone who doesn’t really enjoy big coasters then this would be the park I’d recommend. It does have one coaster (incredibly fun) but all their other rides are 3D/4D rides. A major plus as almost all of them are inside along with where their lines are at so it’s a great place to beat some of that Florida heat. I also didn’t feel like we had any terrible waits for rides. The longest was maybe the ride at Harry Potter but you still were walking the entire time while waiting. Rarely were you actually just standing still for long periods of time. The attention to detail at some of these places was astonishing. Thought went into every single aspect of how it all looked. For my Harry Potter nerds or even if you don’t like Harry Potter, Universal has done a great job of transporting you into the Harry Potter World. You have the ability to buy a wand and test spells throughout the park as well as finally get your hands on some butterbeer (split this. very, very sweet) amongst many other things. It wouldn’t be my park recommendation if you have little kids, but would definitely recommend for anyone 10+ or looking for a non-Disney day.

Overall, is Orlando a place I’m dying to go back, no, not really. But if you take out the costs of the parks, it’s a pretty affordable place to visit and makes for a great weekend getaway. And there’s just something about being there and seeing the young kids take everything in that feels just a little magical. After all, it’s a place where dreams come true.

Until Next Time, The Library Abroad