Tell me about your first holiday to Florida

[Scotty]

1996, Myself DH and DS1 (18 mths old) treated by my parents on a 3 generation family trip.
Airtours from Glasgow with a stop in Bangor, Maine for refuelling and immigration.
We stayed a week in the Enclave Suites and a week in Bradenton. Visited MK EPCOT MGM US and Busch. No research before hand, my vet gave me a guide book the day before we went, walked up to restaurants, discovered buffet restaurants, US supermarkets, Gulf coast beaches.

It was the only time we have been able to fly "direct" as we go in the winter generally.

[riversider2014]

September 1990, went with my best friend and his mum and dad. Flew from Newcastle with Britannia, no seat back entertainment those days - had to make do with watching films on the overhead projectors (all dogs go to heaven - the ideal film for 2 17 year olds...). thankfully they did have plenty of audio channels so listened to a lot of Billy conolly instead.

Remember his mum and dad getting hopelessly lost on the first night finding the interim hotel before going to the villa the following day (diamondresorts/desti...Villas-Orlando - judging by the photos they've hardly change in 28 years!)

Visited MK, EPCOT and MGM studios, Typhoon lagoon, river country, sea world and busch gardens. Didn't do any of universal for unknown reasons.

Our 'park hopper' Disney ticket was in the form of getting your hand stamped to gain entry later in the day or to another park!

[Guest]

Our first was October 1996 with our 3 sons then age 7 9 and 15..we flew with Monarch I think and the boys all got badges from the pilot saying I flew with Captain McCall.This was back in the days of the plane having a refuelling stop at Goose Bay (I think that's where it was) where the snow was banked high at the side of the runway. We stayed for 2 weeks at the then Gateway Inn on Kirkman Road..it was an amazing holiday,we did all the parks and Kennedy Space Center and Wild Bill's dinner show.The castle in MK was a big pink cake (I was so disappointed when I saw it) I don't think I've ever been so exhausted as I was on that holiday,we never stopped as I truly never expected to go back again.Now on 20 something trips in December and often go with our boys and their families but are quite happy to go just the two of us.Definitely our happy place,we had to cancel last month as my Husband had a heart attack,but we're going again for Christmas. I have video of my boys at MCO on that first trip saying in Arnie style"we'll be back" We were hooked!

[Magic Mouse]

May 1994 - our honeymoon and when our addiction to Florida started!

We flew from Cardiff (those were the days) and we had 14 nights in a hotel on I Drive, I think it’s now a Rosen hotel, towards the top end near Wet N Wild.

Went to a welcome meeting in a big castle somewhere on I Drive and bought our tickets there - Disney, Universal, Seaworld and Kennedy Space Centre. We then went to Denny’s for late breakfast and I had the most amazing blueberry waffle!

[Helen J]

My first trip to Florida was in 1994, 24 years ago, when I was 24. I went with my best mate, I used to work for Tarmac, who back then had their own travel agents, and we got staff discount. I can't remember the airline, but Gordon Strachan was on our flight.
I can't remember how much we paid but I'm sure it was less than £500, we stayed at Comfort Inn, Florida Mall. We had 14 day Disney tickets, Universal, Sea World, Busch Gardens, Kennedy Space Centre and an Airboat Ride. We also went to the All American Back Yard Barbecue, which included loads of dancing, eating and character meeting.

Because we were both 24, I'm sure we were told we weren't old enough to drive, so we had to choose a hotel with free buses. The hotel was great, free breakfasts, free buses everywhere. Coaches picked us up from the hotel to go to Busch and Kennedy.

It was the world cup when we were there, in Orlando the temperature on the pitch was 120 degrees, it was flippin hot.

We didn't go to Wet and Wild, but we did go to Typhoon Lagoon and River Country. We also went to Discovery Island, shame that closed.

We were up early, out all day, we went to Pleasure Island most nights, we were absolutely shattered, but we had a great time.

Fastpasses didn't exist back then, but the only ride I remember waiting a long time for was Splash Mountain, we waited for 2 hours to ride, I think it broke down, but we didn't want to leave the queue.

[Michyloulou]

First trip was end of June 1990, aged 18 with a friend at college (we saved from our Saturday jobs at M&S/Sainsbury’s). Flew from Luton to Sanford & stayed at Travelodge Maingate East (there was a Denny’s & McD’s right outside & near to old town). We used hotel shuttle bus, stayed morning to night in the parks and I was hooked from then! I remember the cost of the package was £525 each with Lunn Poly, and in addition to the money for our park tickets, we each took exactly the same amount of spending money (£500). It was my friend who asked me to go with her- so glad I said yes. Initially a group of 8 of ya were due to go & gradually people dropped out through either not having saved enough, or going away with boyfriends instead. It then came down to just me & I promised my friend I wouldn’t bail on her also! It was also her 1st time, but she had family in Canada who she’d visited the year before who told her she simply must experience Florida & told her all about it.

[lindylou46]

First time 1976 (200 years of Independence celebration). Went with our 7yr old daughter and DH, there was only the Magic Kingdome there then. Flew in Bahama Airways (we were living there at the time) to Miami and then drove up to Kissimmee. Distinctly remember driving through orange groves, because it was still very under-developed at that time. Loved it then and love it still. DH and l still visit Florida every year but not usually the parks, however this year have a second little park trip planned just me and my DD, so looking forward to it.

[kissimmee kate]

Our first trip was in 1995 with our 4 children, ages ranging from 6 to 16, made possible by my mum and dad giving me £8k when they retired so I decided i would use it for a once in a lifetime last holiday all together. Booked a package with Airtours with a 3 bed villa and the car was through Dollar. You couldn't pay for insurance upgrade till you got there then. We had never flown anywhere before so the flight for us was a big part of the excitement and we loved it. Dollar however was a nightmare. We went in April but on arrival was told we had August temperatures. Only the driver was allowed in so the rest of us melted outside. We were given 2 cars which we obviously wouldn't accept so they changed it to one and wanted $600 for the insurance and the change to the car. We had no choice so our holiday started with tears as I handed a chunk of our spending money over. There were many families there in the same situation. Thank goodness they changed in the future to upgrading in the UK. On arrival at the villa we were stunned to find we had a massive 4 bedroom villa with a master suite like something from Dallas - sunken bath included! Next day at the welcome meeting that everyone always used to go to we discovered Thrifty car hire at the venue. They offered us the same car for less than half the price of Dollar so we returned the car to the airport and Dollar refunded and then took us to Thrifty in their bus. Customer service was brilliant back then. We brought tickets at the gate for MK, MGM Studios, Universal Studios, Kennedy and Seaworld which had 2 free extra days We also did Gatorland and Disney Marketplace as it was then. The temperatures were unbelievably hot and the afternoon showers were amazing. I honestly never thought we would return but after 2 years I was itching to try it again and we have returned many times, always in a villa. I don't find it as overwhelming as I used to and the villas are not as impressive as then but I still love the place although the cost and the crowds have escalated each time we have returned.

[DisneyDaffodil]

My first trip was with my aunt and uncle in 1980 when I was just 13 years old. It was a 2 day trip from Miami. We stayed in Miami for 2 weeks, visited the Keys, and then went by coach to Orlando. We visited Kennedy Space centre enroute before an overnight stay at a Holiday Inn in Orlando and 1 day at Magic Kingdom which was the only park I believe at that time. Epcot was being built and I remember saying to my aunt and uncle that I would return one day to see it.

Fast forward to 2014, and my aunt passed away (uncle had already died). They had no children of their own so my aunt left her estate to me and my cousin equally. I knew exactly what I wanted to spend some of it on but unfortunately my husband had just been made redundant so was in temporary work, so we had to be sensible as we had periods when he was not working and we needed my inheritance to live on. Thankfully DH found a new fulltime, permanent job after a while.

So I finally returned to see Epcot (and all the other amazing parks that hadn't been there in 1980) at Easter 2016. Took me a little longer than I had planned but it was worth the wait 😀

[Shani]

2012 - family trip, us 5, my brother, my mum & her other half and a family friend. We stayed in a villa. It was my mum's treat for all of us and we did everything together as one group. It was my least favourite holiday (been twice since and stayed onsite) staying in a villa, but it gave me the bug. We had Universal/Sea World tickets and only went to each park once. Me and hubby decided to take the kids to MK and pay on the gate for 1 day. That was our favourite day!

As I said, we've been back twice since, with various sized groups, but never just me, DH and the kids - until this year! Roll on October