Universal Studios Florida, Seaworld Orlando & Busch Gardens Tampa Bay 2023

In October 2023 we returned to the Sunshine state of Florida, 5 years after our last visit. A lot had changed in that time and it was great to get on some new rides and attractions, along with some old favourites.

Our hotel was the Rosen Inn at Pointe Orlando, perfectly placed on International Drive. The hotel has just about everything you’d need and is great value for a holiday. With so much to do on International Drive, you’ll find you hardly need any time at your accommodation though.

The aim of the trip was to see if anything could de-throne Steel Vengeance at Cedar Point as the best roller coaster in the world. The contenders were Iron Gwazi and Velocicoaster and although they are both truly awesome coasters, “Steve” still retained its title.

Seaworld Orlando is one of my favourite parks. It’s great seeing all the marine life whilst being able to ride some really good rides. Mako is a personal favourite and offers great airtime, while Manta is a really good flying coaster. Ice Breaker was okay but nothing special, and Pipeline (the surf coaster) was good but there’s only so much enjoyment you can get with a stand-up roller coaster. Airtime while standing is a really strange sensation though.

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is also an outstanding theme park. It’s got a huge variety of animals and rides, and we spent a solid 4 days of our trip there. Of course the highlight is Iron Gwazi. Its proper mad and went straight in as the 2nd best roller coaster I’ve ever ridden. Montu & Cheetah Hunt also deserve a mention for how smooth and fun they are, although you can get some serious power on the back row of Montu.

Universal Orlando Resort (consisting of Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure) focuses more on attractions than roller coasters. They’re all brilliantly themed and offer really unique rides. Of course the recent additions are quite different. Velocicoaster and Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventures combine both outstanding roller coasters with amazing theming, and as fans of both Harry Potter and Jurassic Park/World, we absolutely loved them. Without doubt these are the highlights of any trip to Universal.

There’s plenty of other things I could mention (like how great the water parks – Aquatica & Volcano Bay, are, or how great it is to swim with Stingrays at Discovery Cove) but there’s so much to do and see it would take all day. I’d really recommend going and seeing it all for yourself. It’s a great way to get the roller coaster count up too!

Music is “Sorry” by Madonna