What can we do on a rainy day in Orlando?Even in the Sunshine State it does rain sometimes! Especially when one of those tropical storms occasionally passes through during the summer months.

Well fortunately there is still plenty to do…..visit one of the superb shopping malls, catch the latest movie, or even spend some lazy time in your fabulous rental villa…..but what most people don’t think to do, is to visit one of Orlando’s fantastic Water Parks…

Well why not? It might be rainy, but it will still be warm and you are going to get wet anyway. As an added bonus the Water Parks will be very quiet on a rainy day - so almost no queues (or lines as they are called in the US)! On a hot summer day the queues for the rides can easily be 45 minutes long, on a rainy day they will be almost non-existent, so you can really make the most of your day.

So which Water Park to chose - here are four to consider….

The first and still the favourite for many people is Wet’n Wild, which originally opened in Orlando over 30 years ago. It is located close to Universal Studios who now own this sensational park. The scariest ride is Bomb Bay, where you climb up six stories to a small capsule. Once inside the operator flicks a lever and the floor falls away to a 78 degree free fall! There are several other extreme thrill rides and rides for the little ones, but one of the most fun rides is Disco H2O, which is a multi-person tube ride through a world of groovy disco lights and music.

The newest Water Park in Orlando is Aquatica, which opened in 2008. This one is owned by SeaWorld and not surprisingly is located right next to SeaWorld. It has a bit of a reputation for long queues, but not on a rainy day! All the parks have a ‘lazy river’ ride where you can float your way around the park on a tube. But Aquatica also has Roa’s Rapids, which is 3-4 times faster than an average river ride and has tides, whirlpools, geysers and waterfalls. It also has two huge side by side wave pools (a world first) which offer various combinations of ‘duelling’ waves and rolling surf, in Big Surf Shores and Cutback Cove. The park also boasts a thrilling ride (Dolphin Plunge) that takes you twisting and turning and shoots you in a transparent pipe through a dolphin pool - you are going too fast to really see the dolphins, but it is fun anyway!

Last but not least are the Disney’s water parks.

Blizzard Beach, which opened in 1996 and is themed around a ski resort. The flagship attraction is Summit Plummet which, with a freefall of 120 feet and speeds of up to 60 miles an hour, was the tallest and fastest freefall ride in the world until the opening of Insano in Brazil (135 feet). Not one for the faint hearted, but a great panoramic view of Orlando from the top! If you want to challenge the family to a race - try Toboggan Racers - where up to eight of you can race down a water slide over exhilarating dips. Dad usually wins in my experience!

Typhoon Lagoon another fantastic day out. You must try out Crush ‘n’ Gusher a truly thrilling watercoaster at this tropical paradise. Play in the worlds largest artificially created wave pool (2.75 million gallons) and enjoy the thrills and spills of the many rides. Or for a quieter life, take a relaxing float down Castaway Creek.

So which is the best Water Park in Orlando? Well they are all great fun, so try them for yourselves to decide. But go on a rainy day and don’t take your umbrella!

Following on from our previous popular article “Florida villa - cost cutting before you go” we have to put together some further suggestions to make those £’s and $ go further whilst on holiday (vacation) depending what side of the Atlantic you are from.

1. At the car rental company pre pay for a Sunpass or Epass for the toll roads. If your planning to do some travelling around Florida maybe to see Kennedy Space Centre, not only will this save you money but also time in the queues. Not to mention struggling to find your change when you are fighting with your seatbelt!

2. Buy a pre-paid phone card - these can be bought easily (Walmart) for all your calls and are much cheaper than mobiles. Remember many UK mobiles will not work in the US unless they are tri- band.

3. Take advantage of the many discount coupons. Whether it is for food or attractions, discount coupons will save you money. Look online, in local newspapers or the masses of tourist booklets you will find everywhere, just check the terms and conditions carefully.

4. Eat early - many restaurants offer “happy hours” with drinks of beers and wines being offered 2 for the price of 1. Not forgetting the free refill’s of sodas.

5. Try to avoid dining in the theme parks as they tend to be expensive, consider the meal plans but only if you are staying all day.

6. Florida is hot! and you will need plenty of fluid; instead of buying drinks all the time when you arrive in Florida get some small water bottles. Freeze the water bottles in your villa fridge overnight. As you walk around the parks the next day the ice melts in that lovely sun and provides you with an ice cold drink, that’s not only free but healthier than all those soda’s. Freeze enough water and leave it in the car in a cool-box, you will really appreciate it when you get back to your car. Buy some big bottles of water from the supermarket, freeze again overnight and off you go again.

7. Don’t rent a Satellite Navigation system from the car hire companies, with prices dropping so much its cheaper to buy one from somewhere like Walmart or Best Buy. Better still some villa owners are providing them on a free loan basis with the rental of their villa, given that rental companies can charge up-to $12 a day that will save you $168 in a fortnight.

8. For those of you with little ones bring your own pushchair or stroller, this could save $7 to $10 a day at some of the attractions. Depending on your stay it might be even worth buying a basic pushchair rather than renting one every time you hit the parks.

9. Spend a day away from the paying attractions, use your villa swimming pool or take a trip to the beach instead. With 1,100 miles of beaches whether you’re interested in sunbathing, birds, shelling, surfing, treasure hunting, people watching, snorkelling, history or romance, Florida has a beach to suit you and are free!

10. Having saved all that money indulge yourself a little; consider the valet parking option at theme parks! This may cost literally a few dollars extra however the time and energy saved in walking a long way from the entrance can work out cheaper. You won’t need a drink or to visit the restaurants as soon as you get in the park. This is particularly beneficial at Universal Studio’s and there is nothing nicer that the car being brought to you when you have those aching feet!

So why did we decide to buy a villa in Orlando?… We had been thinking for some time about buying a vacation home and had considered Spain and the Florida Gulf Coast, as well as Orlando.  We decided on Orlando because of the value for money of the properties, the buoyant rental market (they say Orlando is the most visited city in the World!), the year-round sunshine and because there is so much do there!

We contacted a number of organisations that market to UK-based buyers through the internet. After speaking to a few organisations, we found one that seemed very ‘customer-friendly’ - they sent us regular photographs and all of the emails that we sent them were replied to within a matter of hours. We were sent some details on a number of new developments and resales and arranged a trip to look at possible properties, combined with a two-week

vacation in Orlando over Christmas. We were shown round various developments and resales and we settled on a new development at Watersong (which is where we were also staying at the time, in a lovely 5-bed villa). Watersong is a gated community in the Davenport area, which is about 15 minutes’ drive from Disney World.  The property we bought is a five-bedroom, 4½-bathroom pool home, backing onto a conservation area.  It also benefits from a fabulous clubhouse, including a large swimming pool, gym and internet café - all of which are free of charge for us and our guests.

We bought an executive furniture package which was provided by the same interior designer who furnished the villa we were staying in.  She did a fantastic job and everyone who stays there absolutely loves it!

One amusing anecdote of our purchase was when we completed on our new home….we were presented with a nicely packaged gift, tied with ribbons, on behalf of the builders. However, rather than the Champagne etc. that we imagined it would contain, instead it was a set of items including a pack of toilet rolls, some kitchen towels, soap, screwdrivers and a hammer. Well, as least it was practical!

We completed on the villa in late June 2008 and stayed there for a vacation in August.  We adore the house and are back again this Christmas.  In between we have had six rentals (which helps cover the cost) and are really pleased that all our guests have provided great feedback and seemed to have loved the villa as much as we do!

If you are thinking of buying a villa in Orlando, we’d definitely recommend doing what we did - stay in a similar villa first and get a really good feel of what it will be like to own your own dream vacation home! If you want to support the cost of running your home advertsise on villa rental sites such as Wannavilla.com