This is the diary of the holiday we spent in Orlando, Florida in November and December 2004. During the weeks I made up a small diary of the places we went to and the days out we had.

Day one, Friday 26th November.

We had arranged to spend the night in a hotel not far from Gatwick airport near London. For the cost of the night, we could also leave our car in the car park for the duration of our trip. We left about midday, drove quietly up the M4. No rush so we pulled in before we normally do for a coffee and a small break. That was a good job, because 30 minutes up the road, we hit the traffic jam from hell! A truck had turned over up the road, and nothing could move. It took us three hours to go two miles. That was the next turn off, and we had no choice, as the police had turned all traffic off at that point. We eventually found a place to stop a hour later, thoroughly fed up. At that point we had a meal, and found that the road was still blocked. It took me another three hours to reach our hotel. Enough yet!

Saturday 27th November.

We had paid for the upgraded seats, and after checking in, they were well worth it . Extra leg room, better meals, free drinks. The flight was nine and a half hours long. Not much to some, but aren't they boring? I read my book, and just waited for the end. When we got there and picked up the car, I new the way as we had been there before. We then saw parts of Orlando that we had never seen before, as within 15 minutes I was lost! We also managed to get soaking wet as the rain poured down..... Oh well, we had to bring it with us. I found the hotel in the end by asking, and getting the answer from a kindly sole. Meal and bed......

Sunday 28th November.

Mary wanted to do all her shopping early so that we could get it out of the way. We decided to make for the flea market in Kissimmee drive, as the last time we had some great bargains. Of course I knew where it was..... Yeh right. Lost again. Where we ended up I have not a clue, but it was nowhere near Kissimmee. We found it in the end, and shopped until we dropped. We did have enough energy later to go to "Downtown Disney" in the evening. A fascinating place, with clubs, bars, shops, cinemas. Just worth going to "people watch" as many were doing.

Monday 29th November.

We had seen enough shops by now for a bit, so decided to make for Cypruss Gardens. This was not as easy as it first seems, as nobody seemed to know where it was! We found it one of the maps, and away to go. Of course it was much further then it looked, and I got lost again, but we found it in the end. It was closed...... Apparently it had been closed for 19 months, and was opening on the 9th December. We decided to come back. Back to Orlando, and as I had decided to buy a leather coat over there, we looked out for one. I was to find one another day, but once again back to the shops. Which mall I cannot remember as they all looked alike by the end.

Tuesday 30th November.

This day we decided to have a drive out. We went to St Petersburg near Tampa on the West, and then on to Clearwater on the same coast. About 90 miles from us, they are nice towns, with good clear beaches, and plenty of sun. The crowds were not to big, and we enjoyed just getting out for a run. Clearwater further over, is a bit further than I thought, but as we were over that side, we drove over anyway. Nice sunset photos of the harbour area.

Wednesday 1st December.

We went back to our favourite park today. Epcot. If you have never been there and make the trip over this is a MUST SEE. The real adult Disney. A huge place, with all the "lands" around the lake, but a great day. One of the highlights was a display of gymnastics by a young Chinese team. None of them were very old, and they were brilliant. A separate album in clubphoto just for them. Another highlight was in the "USA". A 300 piece choir came on to sing Christmas songs. Along with a orchestra, that was a real experience. Also the fireworks at night. A wonderful display. I have put a couple of photos in the album I made up, but they cannot show the real beauty.

Thursday 2nd December.

Back to the flea market again. Why I cannot remember, Perhaps we thought they might have some goods left and we wanted to empty them out...... A word about our meals there. For breakfast we went to "Sizzlers" every day. $4.99 for all you can eat, and just over a dollar for all the coffee you can drink. Only in America.....We went there a few time for out evening meal as well. Also other places, where the food was huge and often we could not eat it all.

The evening was spent at the "Dolly Parton Dixie land show". One of the popular shows of there, where for the price you get a good show, plus a meal and drinks. A great show, but the photos I took did not come out well enough. The lighting as is often the case in these places, was not good enough for photography. Is that deliberate? I would think so myself.

Friday 3rd December.

Today we went to Busch Gardens. This is nearly in Tampa, and takes almost two hours to drive there. The park is famous for the fast rides, and a wildlife park, plus gardens. The rides were not for us, but the rest of the park was very nice, with a good bird show, plus lovely gardens. We did find a train ride toward the end that showed us around the full park and the wildlife section that we had not found up to now. We had a good day out, but would I go back? No I don't think so. To many rides that I will not go on for me. In the evening we went back to Downtown Disney for a walk around.

See page two for the rest. The Albums of photos can be found here.

MGM Studios

Cypruss Gardens

St Pete’s and Clearwater

Busch Gardens

Epcot

Gymnastics at Epcot