Right, I’m just going to say it, Orlando Florida is a brilliant family holiday destination. It really has got something for all the family – theme parks and water parks galore, amazing beaches not too far, great shopping, the best pitch and putt course I’ve ever played (I didn’t get chance to play a round of big boys golf sadly, but saw some of the courses whilst driving around Orlando and they all look outstanding), awesome choices of food that you’ll kids will actually eat, the list goes on.

Our first holiday to Orlando was in 2013 when the boys were only 3 and 5 years old and it was really great fun and we can’t wait to take them back in a few years time when they will be 9 and 7. There are some many brilliant things to see and do, just look at this list of activities on Trip Advisor – you get the idea!

You’d think a holiday to Orlando is expensive but compared to holidays in Europe, a holiday to Orlando when we booked didn’t cost much more with the deals to be had…especially if you get flights, villa and a hire car included. However a word of warning, the theme park tickets do add up!

There are a few big reasons why we love Orlando as a family holiday and here are the big four for us…

1. Sunshine!

It’s called the sunshine state for a reason. We went in August and it was warm and sunny every day for 10 days. Here’s a photo from our trip down to Clearwater a couple of hours drive from Orlando, well worth the drive with great scenery along the way.

2. Amazing parks for all the family

There’s nowhere else in the World that comes close to the variety and brilliance of the theme parks at Orlando. Our two favourite parks (without animals) were…

Kennedy Space Centre

I love space, the boys now love space. This is the place to go if you’re remotely interested in space exploration – and even if you are not, you probably will be by the time you leave Kennedy Space Centre. You even get to see up close to the shuttle Atlantis which is amazing.

Walt Disney World Resort

You can’t really go to Orlando without going to Disney World. I wasn’t all that fussed about going to be honest as I thought it would be geared for girls into princesses (it is that too!) but we really enjoyed it all – especially AdventureLand.

Disney World is huge, we did it in one day but you need at least two to cover it all. Amazing fun for all the family with young children. Next time the boys will be old enough to go to Universal which looks brilliant too.

3. Animals

Now I’m not a fans of zoos, especially here in the UK as they’re never big enough…but Disney’s Animal Kingdom covers 580 acres which is five times the size of the Magic Kingdom, making it the largest Disney Theme Park in the world. There are approximately 250 species are represented by over 1,000 animals. You can go on safari, educational tours etc, really cool place.

4. Food

When you’re on holiday with children, especially those under 5 years old you know the importance of getting food that they’ll eat. All the theme parks cater superbly for children and International Drive is full of an amazing variety of restaurants, a good list can be found here on Trip Advisor.

Bahama Breeze was one of our favourites and LongHorn Steakhouse was one of the best steaks we’ve ever had!