This is the closest shopping plaza to Emerald Island Resort. It has restaurants, grocery store, mini golf, UPS store and more. It also has a new website at http://formosagardensvillage.com/
Some of our favorite restaurants on the Formosa Gardens Plaza are TGI Fridays, Outback Steakhouse and Cracker Barrel. Other people love Giordano’s Pizza which is also in the plaza.
Very convenient location from Emerald Island and you more or less have to drive by it on your way home from the attractions.
A notable place on the plaza is the the Centra Care office. I hope you never need it, but it is nice to know that it is there should you have a medical need.
Fall is upon us and soon it will be Halloween. But in Orlando, Halloween goes on for most of October (and for a little of September as well).
What kind of Halloween do you and your family like? If you have teenagers, then you may be interested in Universal Studio’s offering “Halloween Horror Nights“. As the name suggests, Halloween Horror Nights is not for the feint of heart, but if you like to be scared witless, then you will probably enjoy it. It is a separate ticketed event held on certain nights in October (usually Thursday - Sunday) and is promoted as “the best in the business” “the ultimate halloween horror experience”. Universal Studios is open for business as usual during the day so you can still plan your regular day visit to Universal, but you will see the sets and decorations for the Halloween Horror Nights. Regular tickets are $69.99 plus tax, but Universal are offering a frequent fear pass - 13 nights for the price of on which may work out better value for you if you are staying in the area a while.
Obviously that is not an option if you have younger children. Thankfully there are other altenatives.
For Disney fans, you have “Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party” also known as “MNSSHP”. Again, this is an after hours ticketed event. It is held at the Magic Kingdom and is halloween with a sprinkle of pixie dust! There is a special parade, fireworks, costumed characters. Trick or Treats stations are set up around the park as well as some craft activities. Most of the rides are open and on most days there is usually little wait for the rides. Kids and adults are encouraged to dress up. There are very few times that the whole family can dress up and wander round The Magic Kingdom - get into the spirit of it and enjoy! We did!
Just a few things of note.
- If you plan to visit The Magic Kingdom on a day that MHSSHP is scheduled, the park is closed early to guests without event tickets. Take that into account when planning your day.
- Prepare for a late night! MNSSHP finishes at midnight. By the time you get back to Emerald Island, it will be at least half an hour later, if not more. I recommend planning a lazy day for the next day - no early morning starts for the parks!
- MNSSHP is scheduled to start at 7.00 p.m. but in previous years other guests have reported being able to get into The Magic Kingdom at 4pm - this essentially allows you to have an extra few hours of Disney fun. Its worth checking with Disney if this is still available.
We took our two children and our neice and nephew one year and had a great time. We walked on to almost all of the rides with no more than a 5 minute wait. Yes, we did dress up, and it was great fun. The kids had a great time and all managed to stay awake until midnight (with the exception of our youngest daughter who was only 5 weeks old at the time!). I just wish I had known about being able to get in earlier than 7pm when we went.
Find out more about MNSSHP here and here.
Our last spooky park is Seaworld’ During October, they hold their Halloween Spooktacular. Unlike the other two offerings, Seaworld’s Halloween Spooktacular is included in your regular park entry ticket.
They also offer Count Von Count’s Spooktacular Breakfast - a character breakfast with your favorite Sesame Street Characters.
