With summer holidays looming on the horizon, Brits are looking ahead and booking overseas trips to ensure they get their dose of fun in the sun. But finding the ideal holiday to suit everyone – from families to couples or groups of friends– can be a challenge.

Whilst you may think Orlando is ideal the place to take children for a well deserved treat, it has far more to offer than just Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. In fact, if you were to see everything it has to offer it would take 67 days!

And whilst it is very easy to stick to a tried and tested location, it is important to speak to locals and investigate what else there is on offer.

Aside from the fact that Orlando boasts other theme parks including Aquatica and Universal Studios it is a veritable hub of shopping, restaurants, bars and thriving nightlife. Throw in a selection of golf courses and spas and it begs the question – why not choose Orlando as your next destination?

Whatever your budget you are sure to find something to suit your holiday style, whether it is relaxing on Daytona Beach or exploring one of their many heritage attractions.

So what does Orlando have to offer you? Log on to this live webTV show with Simon Calder to find out why a visit to Orlando could be the biggest surprise you have ever had. You will also be able to chat to recent Tourism Orlando competition winners Kyle & Stacey who spent 67 days experiencing every single attraction in Orlando and can give you the full lowdown on its best sights.

Simon Calder and Kyle & Stacey join us live online to discuss the real Orlando

For more information visit VisitOrlando.com/smile

Orlando Webchat July 2010

H: Vicky Letch, host

A: Simon Calder, travel expert

B: Kyle Post, competition winner

C: Stacy Doornbos, competition winner

H: On today’s show we’ll be finding out just why a trip to Orlando could lead to 67 days of smiles. Happy days!

Titles

H: Hello and welcome to Travel Talk, I’m Vicky Letch. Now when it comes to our holidays us Brits like nothing more than getting on a plane and jetting off to sunnier climates, and apparently the number one choice in a recent survey of holiday makers was Orlando. Now to many families their first thought when you mention Orlando is Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, but that’s far from all that Orlando has to offer. In fact if you would see absolutely everything you can in Orlando it would take you 67 days in total and that is a fact, and I’ll tell you why I know that in a minute. Well joining me on the show today is travel expert Simon Calder and the two lucky winners of a competition who won the chance to explore all that Orlando has to offer, Kyle Post and Stacy Doornbos, so welcome to you all

C: Thank you

B: Thank you

H: Thank you very much for being here. So coming up on today’s show – Karl and Stacey talk us through their top Orlando experiences, we reveal the ultimate Orlando tourism destination guide – I felt like I had to do that voice! And Simon answers all of your Orlando questions. So Simon, let’s kick off with you then, because I have an Orlando question for you

A: Go on then

H: It’s such a popular choice isn’t it as a destination, but like lots of popular holiday destinations do you think that we all get the most of our holiday when we go there?

A: Most definitely not and I’ll tell you what, Orlando tourism have done a survey which shows that Brits, wherever we’re heading in the world, are not the world’s greatest tourists. Sure, we love jumping on a plane, going off hither and dither

H: Yes

A: But we don’t make the most of it. Would you believe that 84% of people just research stuff online and only one in four will actually do the obvious thing which is ask the locals? Ask people who’ve been there and done that, people like Kyle and Stacey who have had the opportunity to see so much of what Orlando has to offer. And of course wherever you are in the world, people will want to help you

H: Yes

A: They’ll want to recommend the latest great restaurant, the newest thing that’s just opened up and to steer you in the right direction for making the most of your trip, so my one person campaign is to say just go out and ask! The other travel motto I’ve always had is first of all, always ask, the second one is never miss a chance to get your feet wet

H: Yes

A: But having heard a bit about Gator Land in Central Florida I’m not so sure about that last bit!

H: My goodness me, yes we’re going to show you a bit of Gator Land a little bit later on. So what do you think it is, what do you think is the issue, people aren’t researching or they’re just not asking the right questions to the right people?

A: Well they’re simply not asking, they’re going online and there’s so much – very, very good information online but there’s also an awful lot of tosh, and it’s indiscriminate information. Far better just to seek the advice of local people, and I can understand in some parts of the world there’s a language barrier, you don’t want to feel foolish or whatever

H: Yes

A: But I’ve been to Florida and they speak something like English, they do. No, really

H: Really, really? That was terrible! Was that alright? Very easily pleased this little bunch! Ok so it’s about asking the right questions and it’s about going to the people who have experienced it, and when I say Kyle and Stacey have experienced it, they really have. 67 days of “it” – tell us everything, how did it come about, and what were your highlights?

C: Well last summer my mom saw on the Today Show, two people searching to be the Smile Ambassadors for Orlando and I told Kyle and I’m like we need to do this!

B: She called and I remember she called me and I was like sitting and she was like “Kyle you’re not going to believe this. They are going to pay people to do every attraction in Orlando”

C: I was like what? So we put in a one minute video and a 500 word essay, and then from that they narrowed it down to the top 10 finalists from across the world, and brought us all down to Orlando, they called it for a 67 hour boot camp, and we did a bunch of attractions in that, and then we blogged and Twittered and Facebooked about that

B: And they chose our blog to be the winner –

C: They called us

B: And so we moved down to Orlando for 67 days

H: Oh you must – how did you feel when you got told?

B: We freaked out!

C: We freaked out!

B: Absolutely freaked out

H: Because this isn’t the sort of thing you hear of all that often, this is really a chance of a lifetime

B: Oh yes

C: No we – especially after doing it, we’re like this isn’t even once in a lifetime this is like once in a hundred lifetimes. No one – who gets to do this kind of stuff?

H: And what sort of things did you do?

B: Well we swam with dolphins

H: How amazing

B: We interacted with a beluga whale, a beluga whale came up and kissed me, it was amazing. It was amazing

H: I like how you interpret that as a kiss, because I would be like “attack, attack” because that’s the type of person I am!

B: When he first came up I was like oh no, but then he was cute. He was adorable. We jumped out of airplanes, we flew our own airplane

C: Yes. We did so much stuff – we had a whole day at the Ritz Carlton spa, we went shopping, we thought we were going to gain 67 pounds because we ate so much food it’s ridiculous

B: Yes and everything we did, everyone can do who comes to Orlando

H: That is amazing. So you’re – this is what I was wondering. What were your perceptions of Orlando before you went and did they change after you had your holiday?

C: Yes, I mean I’m a huge amusement park junkie, like big dork, like kind of scary big dork, so I thought of the amusement parks and the roller coasters and stuff when I thought of Orlando, but afterwards I sort of think of it as this place you can go to check off your bucket list of things that you want to do in your life

H: Yes

C: Like I have to sky dive – check. I have to wrestle a gator – check, ok – I - you know what mean, so there’s so much more than I knew was even possible

H: Yes. Although not that I want to take away your manhood, but I’m not sure you were the one that actually wrestled the gator, because -

C: I did but I screamed like a girl

H: Because I have seen –

C: Doing it

H: Well do you know what, let’s watch this and you can decide who actually wrestled the gator. So you were blogging, you were updating the world –

B: Yes

H: On your trip. So let’s take a look at some of your video highlights, and they survived, we know they survived because they’re here. Take a look

Video Footage

“You know those days when you just feel complete peace and at one with the world around you, and just completely comfortable in your own skin? This was not one of those days.

(Gator footage)

And if you had any doubt whether Gatorland was any fun. This is the CEO. We had a blast at Gatorland and it definitely exceeded all of our expectations. That’s doesn’t mean there weren’t times when we weren’t terrified.

Trainer: Come on back you gotta trust me, I got the broomstick

Kyle: That’s a broomstick

Stacy: You should have a taser

Kyle: If you had a taser, any sort of sedative in that broomstick

Trainer: Come on

Kyle: That’s for sweeping, not for keeping alligators away from me

H: So I have to say I love your little line of “that was exceeding our expectations but we were terrified at times”

B: Yes

H: Brilliant. So not quite wrestling but you did have a little ride on it as though it were a pony. Was that a sensible thing -

C: Yes I did ride it as if it were a pony

H: Did they offer you that or did you think –

C: No it just went. They’re like “here sit on this gator” I was like oh ok, and then it started moving and I was like “this is not ok” – mobile alligator’s not ok with me to be honest

H: And Stacy I have to say – props, is that what they say in the States?

C: Yes props, and then you –

H: I am so cool. I’m so cool! I’m amazed that you did that, and that certainly is something that you can tick off your bucket list, if it were ever on there. If it wasn’t, add it and tick it anyway

B: Exactly, exactly

H: Because that’s really impressive

B: Exactly. I felt really good about myself

H: So what other highlights were there of your 67 days of fun in Orlando?

B: I’m going to go with swimming with dolphins, that was like my ultimate thing that I wanted to do, and it was great, they come up and you get to give them a kiss and a hug and then you do different tricks with them, so you like tell them to jump and they go off and they jump and they come back,

H: Amazing

B: - and it’s at Discovery Cove and it’s just this beautiful like hidden lagoon in Orlando, it’s amazing

A: I thought you were talking about Kyle then

C: I do do tricks for her but she has to pay me

H: We’ll talk about that off air. And what else, what else for you?

C: Oh my gosh, for me – a place called Wallaby Ranch just outside of Orlando and they actually tow you up behind an ultra light airplane, up 2000 feet in a hand glider

H: Wow

C: And so it’s you and an instructor next to you and then they release the tether and you glide down 2000 feet

B: It’s amazing

C: It feels like you’re a bird,

H: My goodness me

C: Like flying through the air, you’d think it would be more like terrifying, but it was really just like so serene and beautiful

H Amazing

C: And who would think that you can go, you know, hand gliding in Orlando

H: Exactly it’s all these surprising things. Now I’m going to have to pause you there because that concludes part one. Stay where you are though because I want to hear more from you and Simon, all of these brilliant things we’re hearing about – everyone else can do them as well can’t they?

A: The great thing is you just go to visit orlando.com/smile and you can first of all watch far more exciting clips of Kyle and Stacy enjoying themselves and think you know I’d love to do that, and there’s something called the Orlando Magicard which is something which you just download online and that’ll give you all kinds of discounts, deals at restaurants – well worth having

H: Brilliant. An Orlando cliff-hanger for part two, I like it, well done. So coming up in part two Simon’s going to give us his ultimate Orlando destination guide

Break

H: So welcome back to Travel Talk with me Vicky Letch and of course travel guru now – you’ve gone from expert to guru, do you like that Simon?

A: Don’t know how that happened

H: Simon Calder’s here as well. We are talking Orlando and we’re talking about all of the brilliant things you can do in Orlando, now if a family are going, and say someone’s watching now and thinking I want to do that, I want to take a leaf out of Karl and Stacey’s book – I want to do 67 days of brilliantness but I don’t have 67 days for my holiday. What would your top tips be?

A: Well of course you’ve got to go for the great theme parks initially, and that means Disney and it means Universal, and while personally I would actually say that the rides – if you’ve got teenage kids or people who are acting like teenage kids then I would say that Universal actually has the slightly better rides – Revenge of the Mummy is fantastic, although Disney of course has Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster

H: Oh wow sounds –

A: Disney probably has a bit more – bit more for all the family but you’ve got to go to those big hitters. Then check out Sea World and Aquatica the new water park that goes on there. If you want a slightly more different stay then there’s a new place called Coco Key which is really a family hotel but also with a water park attached, that’s really worth doing. And for goodness sake don’t overlook downtown Orlando

H: Yes

A: This is actually a beautiful central Florida town; you’ve got this lovely lake, Lake Nona which is a really nice focus of the place. You know as an antidote to all these theme park rides you can just get a little – rent a little swan boat and drift around on that. Go to Church Street for some really good eating and drinking and then just walk around and maybe go and explore Winter Park which is really where it all began in the 19th century. This was the first central Florida resort for lots of people from the North Eastern US who couldn’t bear the winters in Massachusetts so they came south and decided that they were going to make the most of this beautiful location. There’s lots of millionaire’s mansions still there. It’s such a good place to explore

H: Absolutely amazing. Also I have to say it is one of those destinations that’s always moving forward and moving with the times

B: Yes

H: So if you think that you know everything it has to offer you might have skated over the fact that there’s brand new attractions and of course we’re all a bit Harry Potter crazy at the moment

A: Exactly, can you believe this Vicky; they’ve nicked Harry Potter and taken him to Florida

H: Darn them! That’s alright though –

A: Just before we went on air I was talking to Kyle and Stacey and they’ve been already and it hasn’t even opened

H: Oh you – really?

C: Yes we got a sneak peak

H: Oh that must have been amazing. Tell us everything

C: Oh my gosh

B: It was amazing. I’m a huge Harry Potter fan, you know I mean we all dream of being a Hogwarts student who gets the wand and gets the cape, and you really do become that. You walk into Hogsmeade and you can get a butter beer and get your wand and all kinds of stuff

H: Incredible. Incredible.

B: I was dying

H: And also to have a preview of it, you must have felt pretty special

B: Oh we felt really special

C: Yes we felt pretty fancy pancy. It was amazing

B: I got an owl myself you know asking me to come to the special event, it was wonderful

C: Oh yes, you can send out mail from there and they postmark it from Hogwarts

H: That’s cute

C: Come on! They like thought of everything

H: They really have

C: Oh my gosh, and all the merchandise for that you can get there you can only get in that park, it’s not like you can go online and get it some other place, there’s tonnes of merchandise

H: Amazing. So I’m going to say something really controversial, you know you’re saying how dare they take it? I think they take it because they do it a little bit better than we would actually

A: Yes

H: I said it! Now, when I go on holiday Simon, I have to lower the tone, you know where I’m going? I do like to shop.

A: I know

H: I like a bit of shopping. So tell us about the shopping in Orlando

A: Ok well it’s really moved upmarket, so that International Drive which previously might have been looking a bit tired. It’s really come alive, you’ve got premium outlets which is just off I Drive, also there’s prime outlets but it’s a really good selection, so you’ve got all the upmarket stuff, for example Burberry but also more mass market, so the Gap is there, Coach for handbags and stuff like that

H: Yes

A: It’s really, really wide ranging and I’ll tell you what, a lot of people still say – I don’t know if you found this from being in London that whatever it costs in the UK in pounds, it costs the same in dollars in the US

H: Yes

A: And of course you’ll getting effectively, what 30% discount

H: Absolutely

A: Well we are, you’re not

B: I know

H: Yes tougher for you guys. That’s good so at least I can feed my shopping habit, that’s really nice

A: Well you can and I’ll tell you what Orlando has just moved into 4th place in the United States after New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles it is the 4th biggest retail outlet

H: Wow, that’s not too shabby for this lady, I’m telling you. So what about people that experiencing Orlando for the very first time, what tips and advice would you offer them

A: Ok –

H: Practical tips

A: Ok just pace yourself for goodness sake, you get there and the whole place is overwhelming, you’re thinking this is great we’ve got to do it but in fact just plan out what you’re going to see. Talk to the locals, talk to the people who’ve been there, make sure you’ve got a basic plan which you’re of course going to modify. In terms of where to stay, I reckon you can’t actually go wrong with the I Drive area, International Drive, the main kind of fun thoroughfare for the whole of Florida. Everything you want is there and it’s really easy to get around. Sure, rent a car, lots of people will be doing that but in fact lots of amusement parks do hotel pick-ups, also a very good bus service so if you don’t feel like driving you don’t have to do that. But the main thing is if you’re going to do something like Discovery Cove where you can swim with dolphins, then you’ve got to book that in advance because they only allow 1000 people a day and when it’s full it’s full

H: Oh wow, ok. I would love to do that, that would be a lifetime experience, definitely. Well that does conclude part two, but part three is soon upon us so you stay where you are because this is when you answer all of your questions. We are live of course if you have any that you want to send this way please do so, but I’ve got my expert/guru and then I’ve got two people here who’ve actually experienced it, 67 days of Orlando glorious fun, so we’re going to be doing that in part three. See you in a mo

Titles

H: So welcome back, we’re all so excited we’re sort of chatting away about Orlando here. Welcome back to the final part of Travel Talk, so we have been streaming live, we have been flooded with your questions but do keep them coming in if you have any more that you want to ask. I’m going to kick off with Sally because I like your name! Sally says “how far in advance should we book up a holiday to Orlando?” Simon

A: Well of course if you suddenly decide right let’s disappear at the weekend, you could actually do that, there’s still plenty of availability on flights, but if you’re going with the family, if you are planning a trip during the school holidays, whether that’s summer, Easter, Christmas, then the earlier the better. I was talking to somebody just yesterday who’s already booked up for April 2011

H: Oh wow

A: Well because if you know the hotel or resort you want to stay at, if you know when you want to travel, the prices are only going to increase

H: Yes

A: So you might as well book up good and early. Airline seats go on sale 11 ½ months in advance so right now you could book even for late May bank holiday which would be a good time to be out there. Of course prices tend to be higher in the school holidays, if you possibly can, if you’re not restricted to the school holidays, then go in November, go in January, these are the months when everything’s going to be fresh, it’s going to be relatively un-crowded, best of all you’re going to get great value on everything from your airfare to your hotel

H: Absolutely. Also if you are booking ahead and you’re planning ahead, you can spread some of the cost if that’s an issue to anyone, if you’re budgeting for a big family holiday that’s a nice way to do it. Julia, thank you Julia. Julia says “I’ve got a 4 year old and my youngest is 18 months, is this too young for her?” What do you think?

C: I would say this, during 67 days –

H: Stand up!

C: We got –

H: No I’m joking!

C: We got to have friends and family come down and visit us at some points, and my 3 ½ year old niece came, and my year old niece came also, and you know they were able to push my year old niece around in the stroller and there’s plenty of like stroller parking for the entire thing, and then a lot of the attractions have a thing called Child Swap so one person waits in line

H: Sorry –

C: That’s really what it’s called

H: Just sounds so funny – I don’t like mine much

C: Wait in line with a kid, and then if the other parent wants to go they can go right to the front of the line

H: Oh wow that’s brilliant

B: It’s made for families

H It is so family friendly

C: They think of everything, they really do think of everything so even like I remember in the Magic Kingdom, you know my nieces were getting a little bored or whatever and they had like hula hoops sitting around on the ground for them to play with

H: That’s really nice

C: They’re always thinking of the kids. So I would say go for it

H: And even if they’re not that mobile, because I have been myself, not for 67 days, but it’s so colourful there’s so much to see all the time, there’s so much going on. I think actually when we went my niece was very young, I don’t think she was even toddling and she was a bit like that the whole time. Although she looked like that all the time. This is from Alan, thank you very much Alan – “I want to celebrate my 50th birthday” – oh congratulations – “with my family in Orlando. What can you recommend as a big event?” Who wants to jump in here?

A: Well ok here we are let’s do it in several parts. So I would say start the day hot air ballooning. You can do that over central Florida you get the most beautiful view of it and then you finish up with a Champagne breakfast. Then of course you fill the day with the best parks, I don’t know what you two would recommend – where should you go to celebrate –

B: I would say – I mean I would say do the morning in Universal, do one park or the other

C: Or even Sea World. Sea World is beautiful and pretty relaxing

B: That’s true

C: It’s not quite as –

B: Intense

C: Intense as the other parks so you can sort of sit back and enjoy. But there’s also rides so if you still love rides, go for it

A: And then in the evening Wolfgang Puck, celebrity chef great place to have a celebratory meal and after that you can even walk just down the road to Cirque du Soleil, get a bit of culture. What a way to spend your 50th birthday

C: And that would be quite the day.

H: It really would

C: He will be exhausted! Until your 51st birthday!

H: Yes that is a dream, dream birthday and do you know what, you know how to party Mr and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise

A: Oh in 25 years time I’m really looking forward to spending my 50th like that as well

H: I can’t really wink but I’ll do that anyway just for the effect. “What are the beaches like?” Thanks you. What are the beaches like?

B: They’re beautiful. We used to go there when I was little. It’s easily accessible and you can rent surfboards, you can rent wake boards, it’s really nice and there’s little stores and restaurants all along the beaches, I mean – there’s an hour away both ways on the east and the west side of Florida so it’s really accessible and it’s beautiful

H: Sounds fantastic. We’ve got time to squeeze in one more question, Sarah from Kent, thank you Sarah; she says “what are the childcare facilities like so that we can have a night off and what about meeting other adults? Is there scope for this?”

C: Well I know that a lot of the resorts offer things to you know take care of your kids for the night and stuff like that, because they’re thinking of the adults also, they know that you want to go out and enjoy your time, so I know that they think of that, and I would say to meet other adults you could go to city walk, at Universal which is like a great nightlife area and great place to interact and have fun and mingle

B: Or downtown Orlando

C: Downtown Orlando

A: Downtown Orlando, lots and lots going on there. Really good ethnic eating opportunities and it gives you a completely different side of Orlando. Really friendly, really great fun. You’ll meet some locals as well as other holidaymakers.

B: Yes definitely

H: That’s one of the things I love about you Simon is that you’re a foodie

A: Oh yes

H: So when you travel it’s all about the food, I really appreciate that

A: It is so important

H: Yes it’s so important it really is. Well thank you so so much. How can I get my hands on one of those little t-shirts?

C: These t-shirts, well you can go and visit Orlando – no we don’t know. Call me, I don’t know!

H: Ok! Thank you so much for your time. Simon as always thank you very much for popping by. That is all we’ve got time for, thanks for watching at home. If you want any further information go to www.visitorlando.com/smile where you can also take part in the world smile search and maybe win your very own chance to holiday in style in Orlando. To enter your smile story all you have to do is go to visitorlando.com/smile. Good luck!

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