This had been my first time going to Florida (December 2011), I was in a party of 6 (my boyfriend’s family), who had been 6 times before. Florida is absolutely amazing, and I am currently booking for 2013. Make sure you do all the parks, Disney, Universal Studios, Sea World, Discovery Cove (+ the Dolphin swim, this is an experience of a life time, DC is beautiful, a little tropical island), Busch Gardens.... etc etc.

If you are looking from a break from all the fried greasy American food, make sure you check out The Stage Door in Orlando, it’s a British pub run by the loveliest owners Alan and Linda! The pub its self is a little out dated but the food is absolutely gorgeous, real British cooking and the owners make it well worthwhile. It is a little hard to find with its white sign, but is situated on the 192. Definitely check it out, keep a small business in business! Another great eat (we ate there 3 times) is the little Irish Chippy and pub in Downtown Disney called Cookes of Dublin, it is really nice and fresh, a proper chippy - winner! Planet Hollywood and The Hard Rock Cafe are over rated, we spent a fortune there as it was my first time and the food was average, if you are interest in it, just order a chilled drink and have a look around it and save yourself a $250 bill.Also DO NOT bother checking out 'Old Town' Disney, absolute waste of time, run down and to be frank I felt uncomfortable and a little scared!

Anyway, this review is about the Terra Verde Resort in Kissimmee. We stayed in the 'show home' villa, and while that sounds lovely it seemed a little run down, maybe as this was one of the first villas to be built. I stayed in an en-suite room and the bathroom sink drained extremely slowly (probably took over night to drain), also there were rips in the towels provided and stains all over a carpet another room. I'm not usually that fussed about little things like this, but as my boyfriend had been 6 times before and paid a lot of money for the holiday he said that he had stayed in a lot nicer villa's/houses. The resort its self at night looked lovely and I felt very reassured by it being a gated community. The private pool and Jacuzzi were bliss, even though when heated it was a little chilly for me (Dec time). Also we were greeted day and night by a security man, I have forgotten his name but always gave just a warm welcome and was happy to stop and have a chat about our day.

Kissimmee where the resort is situated is again a little run down; I don’t want to sound negative as this resort has got brilliant ratings. But from my partners experience he has stated staying in the Orlando side of the 192 is better, it is a little more upbeat with less shops shut down etc. In 2013, we will be staying in a villa in Orlando not Kissimmee.

Terra Verde is situated well, you can access Disney in about 25 mins and Universal Studios, Sea World and Florida Mall are about a 45 min drive away. Check out Conga River Golf as well, its a good laugh and something to do at night.

I hope I haven’t damped anyone’s spirit and hope you have found this review helpful.

Would I return to Terra Verde? –no (as there are better options), but a definite YES to Florida.

Katie