Things to do
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EPCOT
A geodesic sphere marks the entrance to a park in two halves: pavilions on science and invention at the front, and at the back a lagoon ringed by eleven country pavilions, each staffed by nationals of the country it represents. The circuit of that lagoon is a long walk in the heat. Food and drink festivals fill much of the calendar and draw an adult crowd.
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Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
An hour east on the space coast, where Atlantis hangs tilted with its payload doors open in a hall built around it, and a complete Saturn V lies on its side under a roof at the far end of the bus tour. A rocket garden holds the earlier boosters. A full day is needed. Launches still go up from the pads alongside and can be watched.
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Magic Kingdom
Opened in nineteen seventy-one, the first of the Florida parks and still the busiest: a castle at the end of Main Street with themed lands spread around it like spokes. Boats and a monorail carry visitors across the lagoon from the car park, which adds time at both ends of the day. Fireworks close the evening. Arriving at opening buys two calm hours before queues set.
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Universal Studios Florida
Film studio theming built around simulator rides and roller coasters, with Diagon Alley as the set piece: a brick facade hiding a street of shopfronts and a dragon on the roof. A train links it to Hogsmeade in the neighbouring park, and riding it takes a ticket valid for both. A newer third park has opened alongside. Queues move faster in the evening.
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Disney's Animal Kingdom
Live animals share the park with rides, so the safari trucks through the savannah run best in the early hours, before heat settles the herds into shade. Pandora, built on the Avatar films, glows after dark and holds the longest queue in the park. A carved tree of life stands at the centre. Shade is thin, which makes the afternoon an hour for indoor shows.