This site is designed to work hand-in-hand with Foulsham's best-selling travel guide, by Simon and Susan Veness, to help ensure you get the absolute best out of your holiday in Central Florida, whether you are a first-timer to the Sunshine State or a regular visitor.

It is both an information resource AND your own itinerary planner; here you will find vital book updates, additional features with some of the things we just can't fit in to our annual publication, important dates, Internet links and our essential Personalised Itinerary Planner. This latter is a unique Brit's Guide product, developed purely by us for UK visitors to Orlando.

If you own the book, your Orlando Personal Itinerary Planner
is available for £20

If you do not own the book £30

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Who We Are

Simon and Susan are the UK's leading authorities on all things Disney, with more than 30 years' of theme park experience between them. An Anglo-American travel-writing team, they live in Orlando, just a few minutes from the heart of the Disney magic, and are ideally situated to be your guides to all the fun in store. Simon was the founding author of Foulsham's award-winning Brit's Guide series while Susan has been principal research assistant on the Orlando title and, more importantly, has been visiting Walt Disney World since it opened in 1971. They also collaborate on A Brit's Guide to Disneyland Paris, Disney's great European resort, where they are regular visitors, as well as on various other Internet resources, including http://blog.mousekingdom.com

The first thing you need to know about Orlando and Walt Disney World is that it is big. Very big. And it is expanding, changing and re-inventing itself all the time. This makes for a hugely exciting destination ? the most exciting in the world, in our humble opinion ? but it is also complex, bewildering and exhausting if you don?t get it right. It isn?t a make-it-up-as-you-go-along kind of holiday, and you need to do plenty of  preparation for what?s in store.

Most people come to Orlando for the seven main theme parks (four in Walt Disney World, two at Universal, plus SeaWorld), or eight if you count nearby Tampa (for Busch Gardens) and nine if you include the excellent Kennedy Space Center. And these are true Theme Parks in every sense of the name ? fabulous works of fantasy, whimsy, energy and architecture, with breathtaking rides, superb shows and a total sense of entertainment. Nowhere else does theme parks as well as Orlando and, for the first timer, they are totally captivating.

But there is also a lot more to this part of the Sunshine State than theme parks. There is a whole raft of supporting, smaller-scale attractions, from water parks and haunted houses to tranquil gardens and natural wonders. You could spend two weeks just doing nature trails and airboat rides, balloon trips and eco-safaris, and the local museums and art centres. The area also boasts world class golf, fishing, water-sports ? and shopping. Bring an empty suitcase or you could be seriously over your baggage allowance on the return flight!

And then there is the nightlife ? a wonderful array of bars, clubs, discos and restaurants, plus the dinner show phenomenon, of which Orlando boasts nearly a dozen varieties.

It all adds up to a mind-boggling panorama of holiday choice, which you are highly advised to plan and prepare for before you leave home. So allow Simon and Susan to steer you through what?s in store ? and offer you the ultimate holiday service of the Personalised Itinerary Planner to make sure you do truly have the Holiday of a Lifetime???

As mentioned, there are SEVEN main theme parks around which you need to build your battle-plan, EIGHT if go as far afield as Tampa. Even given two weeks, it?s tough to fit everything in ? unless you want to come home in need of another holiday! So, work out your priorities in advance; rather than trying to ?Do it all? (simply not possible in Central Florida) it is far better to enjoy what you do thoroughly.

In summer months, the heat (above 35?C at times), high humidity (approaching 100%) and crowds (with queue times topping an hour for many of the main attractions) make it doubly difficult to negotiate the parks; restaurants often need to be booked in advance at main meal-times; and some of the roads can get horribly congested. Patience, plenty of water and lots of sun-block are your best defences here (as well as a good Plan!).

In addition to summer (from late June to mid-August), the other busiest times of the year are Easter, Thanksgiving (the big American holiday at the end of November) and Christmas/New Year. In fact, the festive period is easily THE most hectic and congested time of the year. It is great fun but be prepared for crowds EVERYWHERE! For the dates of all America?s public holidays and important dates in 2007, click HERE!

The other key to a memorable holiday is your ticket choice. With so many parks, there are just as many types of individual and multi-day ticket, so, again, you need to do your planning BEFORE you shell out. The most popular tickets are Disney's 5 and 7-Day Premium Tickets (which provide either 5 or 7 days? unlimited entry to all the four main Disney parks, plus 4 or 6 extra visits to the two water parks, Pleasure Island, DisneyQuest and Disney's Wide World of Sports) and the 14 and 21-Day Ultimate Tickets (which provide either two or three weeks' access to ALL the Disney fun), plus the Orlando FlexTicket (in two varieties), which covers Universal?s parks, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens and the Wet ?n Wild water park. However, the parks do change things from time to time, so be sure to check our essential up-dates pages regularly for the latest news.

Finally, WHERE you decide to stay is also essential to your Plan. If you stay in a Disney hotel, you benefit from their Extra Magic Hour programme, which allows their resort guests into one park a day either an hour before official opening time or three hours after the regular closing time. There is also much greater convenience (and fun!) from being on-site with Mickey and Co. If you choose a Universal hotel, as well as easy access to their park, you also have the bonus of Universal Express a front-of-the-line access to most of the main rides. However, if you choose to stay outside the main resorts in places like International Drive, Highway 192 in Kissimmee, Lake Buena Vista or in one of the many vacation home developments along Highway 27 to the west and south of Disney then you will usually find things much cheaper.

If you own the book, your Orlando Personal Itinerary Planner
is available for £20

If you do not own the book £30.

Order Today

A BRIT GUIDE TO ORLANDO 2008

AVAILABLE IN ONLINE AND IN BOOK STORES NOW