Travel Tips (Orlando, Florida) + Day 5

Obviously I'm not a hardcore traveler (yet), but for each trip I take, I'd like to give tips and tricks from my experience. And though some of these may be obvious, keep them in mind.

Travel Time

Make sure you're following TSA item allowances.

I was able to bring a lot of stuff on my carry-on, but the one item I didn't get to keep was my nail clippers. Even random, small items like that can get taken away.

Double check your flight days and times.

The night before I left, I realized I was leaving one day early for the trip for which I'd signed up. My friend, Tai, and I had book a hotel near the hotel for the night.

Allow for a day in another city.

If you have an extra day, like Tai and I did, then you might even make a pitstop in another city for a day. The first leg of our flight brought us to New York and although we had a three hour layover there, we couldn't leave and see the sights. I would absolutely consider factoring this into my next trip.

Decide if you're going to Uber/Lyft everywhere or get a rental car.

Not an issue per se that we ran into, but a recurring "problematic" theme was an inconsistent mode of transportation. Location of your hotel is important as to your chosen destinations, but everywhere that we looked up was 20+ minutes away from our first hotel. Just be wary of what your destinations are and plan as accordingly as you can. Speaking of which...

Figure out what you're doing before you go on the trip.

Again, this sounds like something everyone should already know and do, but when Tai and I arrived, we basically spent the whole first afternoon researching things to do and places to go in our spare/leisure time, which made us grateful for the extra day we had. Nonetheless, we still spent plenty of time researching places that were nearby, fun, affordable, and free.

Florida Specific Tips

Get yourself a roll of quarters for tolls. They don't take paper money or credit cards and there aren't places to get quarters nearby. Do yourself a favor and stop at a 7 Eleven before you start your drive.

When using a rental car, have a credit (not debit!) card handy. Unusually high cover charge surprised us when we tried to get a rental and it caused us to "take a different route" for the day.

Universal Studios Specific Tips

Use the single rider line as much as you can. This saved Tai and I so much time and we wouldn't have been able to do as much as we did if she hadn't found out about this feature early on. It's understandable that you might want to ride with your family, especially if you have children (don't abandon them!), but in the end, each of you is going on the same ride and you can all reminisce about it after you've gotten off whether or not you were in the same exact ride as them.

Miscellaneous/Other

Consider the cost of living.

Wherever you travel, be aware of how much prices could shift depending on how much it is to live there. You could end up spending more money than you mean to and get more into credit debt than you thought you would. Like for example, don't order room service. When it comes to in-hotel expenses, be cautious about what you're buying. Sales tax can make that three-scoop gelato turn into a six dollar per scoop dessert. All I gotta say to that is, enjoy what you buy and saaaaaavor it.

Be open to exploring new places.

At our first hotel, we found a curious little place to eat dinner that was right next door and it turned out to be the best place we ate while on the trip! So don't opt out of trying new things as uncertain as they might seem.

Roll those clothes!

I found that rolling my clothes helped me fit a lot more into my suitcase with less space taken up. Also, rolling any socks or underwear into your shoes is a great space saver too. I also made sure to layer me shoes on the bottom of my suitcase, followed by pants, skirts, and shirts. Any dresses or formal wear was laid out on the top, not rolled.

Thoughts on Florida

The food was hands down some of the best food I've ever had. The richness of it may have messed with my stomach more than I liked, but I've never had a better time trying and trying "new" foods and flavors. Also, kid sized portions (if available) will do the job just as much as your "typical" restaurant food portions. -whisper-...And they're cheaper.

The Orlando Studios park was great. Huge, full of different things to do and definitely not boring. Side show-esque "street acts" really livened up the Studios lot, but personally, Harry Potter world was a bit of a letdown when it came to the high standards I had in mind. Granted I didn't get to do everything I wanted to while there and I didn't buy a wand because of how freakin' expensive they were, but I still enjoyed being in an environment that came straight out of a film series. That was pretty surreal and Hogsmeade was definitely one of my favorite places. -cough, cough- Butterbeer and Pumpkin Juice... CityWalk's night scene was pretty neat to experience as well.

~Olivia