Mr Happy:
If Florida one does not say "cockroach", one says "palmetto bug". You know it is a big feckin cockroach, I know it is a big feckin cockroach but the Floridian term is Palmetto Bug. I had a few in my condo in Florida once. Didn't know whether to get a 12 bore and shoot it or to put a saddle on it and ride it out the door.

As to Florida winter weather, it is quite variable within fairly short distances. Miami on East and Naples and Ft Myer on West are fairly warm all winter but a bit further north could be a bit cooler. No need for long underwear and a woolly gansey but maybe a windbreaker/light fleese over the t-shirt at some times, other times quite warm. I don't care, it is still warmer that the New England coast in the winter. Last year I was in Largo (near Tampa) for a couple of weeks in January. I did not sit by the pool in a bathing suit all day but wore a shirt and shorts and enjoyed the sun anyway.

Any active UK military traveling in the US should check out the USO Linky here. A great outfit they have offices in major cities and on/near bases. They provide very nice lounges in major airports and also often have free/dirt cheap tickets to theatres and sporting events. I recall in NY City getting baseball tickets and also theatre tickets. Theatres hate empty seats and often donate to USO unsold tickets.

In Tampa, FL the hockey team wants to fill seats. Every game day at 10:00AM they sell all unsold seats for that day for $10. Last winter I took my godchildren and family to a hockey game. $50 for 5 tickets worth $55 each. My godson is from Toronto area and had never been to a NHL game as in Toronto tickets unobtainable. He was very happy with "Uncle David".

As to ticket discounts at Shades of Green in Orlando, I believe you can get discounted tickets at Shades of Green even if you are not staying there. About 10 years ago we got tickets there although not staying there, wife was active USN officer at the time. As to staying there, I think that UK troops can stay there only if in the US on orders for training, exchange program, serving in a NATO command in US (lots of Brits at CINCLANT in Norfolk) Note: Shades of Green is a non-smoking facility as are all Disney hotels.

As to Disney tickets, the Disney site refers only to US personnel getting discounts. I think the current discount program is one free 5 day ticket for the military member and up to 5 companion tickets for 5 days at $99 each. It would be worth checking to see if they will honor UK military ID. Also on Disney, if a person in the party is disabled Disney has a reputation of being very helpful. On rides with long lines the disabled go to the front of the line in most cases.

Also, if in Florida the Everglades is well worth a look. The National Park Center offers tours at Shark River where you will see lots of alligators and other wildlife. The tour guides do a great job. (note, some Florida restaurants have alligator on the menu. Tastes just like chicken but the meat is whiter than chicken.

Have a great time.

Yes and IIRC, Universal and Seaworld resorts have a similar policy. Something that I thought was a nice idea until I got there. Almost everyone that was classed as "disabled" was actually just a fat knacker. They would ride around the parks on spaz chariots, go straight to the front of the queues and the only thing wrong was them was gluttony. For the genuinely disabled it is a really good idea but to reward people for being obese just seems wrong.

The reason they put the blimps at the front of these rides is purely for safety.
As and when the extra mass of supersized blubberbutts causes catastrophic failure of the rollercoaster, the wobblebottoms will pile in first causing a huge adipose cushion for everyone else to fall safely, if somewhat messily, into.

That will be expensive, the park prices remain the same but hotels and flights will cost much more.

Sticky don't let yourself down by attacking obese kids and adults who may be overweight due to their condition or medication. Be thankful your own family is, I hope, healthy and show some grit!

They have free-to-use mobility scooters at Monkey World, Dorset, UK. Those taking one out are required to complete and sign a form, which includes a statement that the user's weight does not exceed ??? stone. I've forgotten the weight limit, but can assure you that there's something drastically wrong with the bathroom scales of many of 'em.

Funny how their condition is down to a medical problem. I assume you think that the vast amounts of calories they put down there necks is nothing to do with them being overweight. I don't.

£1695 for me an the wench for 11days at the hilton, not gonna be able to afford t agan for a whle but thought that wasnt a bad deal?

Look at the disney resort, the low cost, I think they call them value resort. The room are good and so are the ammenities, they usually go for anywhere from $69 -$99.

It doesn't help that apparently Florida is like "spot the non-fat fook"

As a former squaddie, I can certainly endorse the Hampton roads area of Virginia. I now live and work here, and there is loads to do if you are fed up with the Disney thing. Colonial Williamsburg, looks really good, but if you want to go inside the houses and talk to the re-enactors, it costs an arm and a leg, although the whole site is free to walk around, and you can quite easily waste a few hours doing this. There are also free show, on most afternoons, mainly on the build up to the Revolution. Much more interesting especially for us Brits, is the Jamestown settlement, this is about 5 miles down the road, its cheap to get in, (about $10) and there is a cracking visitors centre with replicas of the 3 ships, a fort and an indian settlement. Make sure you take the guided tour as these people really know their stuff, 1 mile down the road is the real site of where the English landed back in 1607, again this is cheap to get in, and a lot of work has been done since the Queen visited back in 07. I am sounding a bit like a tour guide here, but I will carry on regardless. about 20 miles down the road is Yorktown, which was not such a good result for the British Army, but still really interesting. You also have Busch Gardens in Williamsburg for the rollercoater fix, and almost next door is a large water park. just down the road is the biggest Naval base, on the East coast. The vast majority of the Civil War was fought in Virginia, and I have not really explored that yet. 3 hours north, is Washington DC, with all the excellent free museums, and of course Arlington Cemetery which is a must see. We usually fly Heathrow to Dulles, and then drive south. Flights with BA out of season are quite cheap.
If I can help anybody thinking of visiting, feel free to email or pm me.

In answer to the query regarding Florida weather--I haven't been in a few years, but the ex wife and I used to make regular pilgrimage to Orlando each January with the kids. Weather was absolutely fantastic. Would get on the plane in St Louis and be freezing our arses off, and once arriving in Orlando, the coats and sweaters immediately got stowed for the duration. Kids would spend every evening in the outdoor hotel pool.

Edit to add: I just checked weather, and Orlando right now is at 77 degrees F, with a low tonight expected of 51 degrees F. Pretty nice compared to the billowing snow I can see out my office window.

You can also show your National Defence Medal!

I have just printed off some free park admission sheets for Sea World and Busch Gardens, which you show to the ticket booth with your MoD 90, but I suspect it may be for U.S Soldiers only. Does anyone know? I got the info and sheets from www.herosalute.com

I'm led to believe that our own Porridge_gun will be working at Seaworld later in the year.
And they've waived the need for a Green Card.

Without appearing too parochial, I also urge anyone going to the DC area to go see the new Marine Corps Museum at Quantico VA about 45 minutes south of DC.

Linky

Wiki Link

I'm off to Orlando next month (last 2 weeks in March) so hopefully going to try out all that stuff.

Apparently, with the current exchange rate and taxes etc, Shades of Green isn't really much of an advantage. Plus Mrs PD has already bought some Flex ticket thingies and booked us into some cheap cockroad-infested dive for a fortnight. Could be interesting.

If anyone has any recent updates, I'd be grateful for your advice.

Right mate I went with the wench over new years, we stayed in the Hilton on I-drive which is sort of the epicentre of most things, ill try give you a muddled, not in order list of things we found useful/interesting/cheap/worthwhile:


1) TAKE ARMY ID!!!, I cannot emphasise this enough, you will feel like a * asking all the time 'do you do military discount?' but so many places do, places you wouldnt think (clothes shops/restaurants/cinemas/museums etc) and the savings add up to a fortune, with that in mind here are the places we visited that gave us significant discounts:

Universal Studies/Islands of Adventure (10% discount me and wench)
Sea World (free entry for me and 1/2 price for dorris)
Busch Gardens (free entry for up to 4 people on your ID and half price for another three peeps)
Ripleys believe it or not (10%)
IMAX Cinema I-Drive (20%)
Various other smaller establishments as I said well worth it.

2) Outlet Shopping, If your located on I-drive (make full use of the I-trolley, $1.25 for one any distance trip and stops at all the right places) try the mall at the North end (past Universal studios) we found that to have the widest range of stores. If you plan on doing a big clothes buy in the outlet malls take an extra big bag (north face type) with you to the US, most airlines will charge £50-ish for the extra baggage but will charge much more for overweight baggage on the return so, bring an empty bag and avoid the problem if you plan on shopping

3) Car Hire, If you havent booked already and plan on hiring a motor whilst there go to an internet cafe and search for local firms through there dont go via your hotels provider, alot of them we found were massively over-priced and for a simple t'internet search we saved £100 on our hotels providers price.

Also should mention If you are staying on I-drive and plan on visiting Busch gardens, Kennedy Space Centre or Gatorland you will need a car as they are out of the way but Busch gardens is definately worth the trip, simply for the fact the free entry will cover your car hire cost and Kennedy was a nice break from the constant rush of the theme parks.


4) Scoff, two of the nicest places we ate at whilst we were there were at both ends of the spectrum:
Olive Gardens: American Italian chain restaurant but a real good scoff and cheap for what you got
Charleys Steakhouse: Be warned, this place is quite pricey but you get what you pay for, easily the best steak Ive ever had and supposedly best steakhouse in Florida, highly recommended.

5) Theme park scoff, DO NOT BUY FOOD AT THE PARKS!!!! go to the supermarket night before and take pack lunches and beer (if thats your taste) the parks are a total rip-off for food ($5.50 for small hotdog) and its far cheaper to take a daysack.

6) If the weather is poor hit the theme parks, when we went to busche gardens the weather was poor (Chilly English day) and the yanks were in clip, the park was nearly empty and we didnt cue for a single ride, walking onto even the large coasters.

7) Hotel discount, not sure of where your staying but as stated we were at the hilton, mentioned I was in the military and they upgraded our room, gave us free entry to the executive lounge (effectively free scoff the whole time we were there) and free parking when we had our hire car, totalling up to about $1200 just for being in the army.


Thats all I can think of for now but Ill post anything else that comes to mind, have a good one.

You are an absolute LEG-END! thank you very much for taking the time to jot that down. I'm of to florida with the 0A and the pad brat in may for 3 weeks. I have searched/rang/emailed the lot to try and find out if I can use my MoD 90, and you have put tourism advice into turbo clip in one quick blog. Dobra chuffed mate thanks.

Awesome work, Dollsteeth. Thanks for the advice. I will dedicate my first Budweiser in Busch Gardens to you!