Holiday Inn Club Vacations Orlando Breeze Resort

Holiday Inn Club Vacations Orlando Breeze Resort is located in a great part of Orlando. It is to the west of Disney’s Animal Kingdom resort. I am driving down to the area because flights were too pricy. I also wanted my convertible on the trip.

Video by The Hitchhiking Bones

Day One Travel & Arrival

The drive down was one that I did over a 2-day period. I stopped in South Carolina on the way down just to prevent myself from trying to drive it all in a single day. I used to do that when I was a younger guy, but those last few hours you feel sleepy, and it is just not worth the risk as an older man.

The entire trip is less than 12 hours. By stopping in South Carolina on the way down, I left myself a short 4-hour drive for today. I can drive 4 hours just about any day, no worries.

I knew to check in at the resort would likely be 4 PM, so I had time to kill even with the drive. This meant that I slept in, and even tried the sketchy continental breakfast at the motel I had stayed at. You know, the ones with that egg product that looks a bit like egg hockey pucks.

Then there is the juice from the machines and the pastry. The pastries used to be all on a tray. Now after covid, they are individually bagged, which is fine. They may even have a fresher taste that way.

After I ate the “free” breakfast, I topped off the gas in the car, put the top down, and headed to the area. The trip down I95 was fast and there was very little traffic.

I stopped in Orlando and figured, with time to spare, I would check out one of the smaller tourist things near the resort. Since I was traveling down I95 and needed to cut over to Orlando, I stopped at the Jungle Adventures park on the way across. It is fairly small but there is a ton to see and the pontoon boat rides around the area lets you see just about everything. It was a good time killer, and the day was not too hot. I can imaging being at this park on a hot day though and you might be tempted to throw yourself to the gators since it must be a very swampy feeling on a hot day.

After my park/swamp experience, it was time to go find the resort.

My first impressions of the resort are good. I am a sucker for mini-golf, which by default I often refer to as Putt-Putt, which I know is a brand name, but it is stuck in my head from hundreds of days playing when I was young. The resort has a giant mini-golf course, which is, I think, the largest private course I have ever seen.

As I drove to the site of the resort, I passed a ton of signs for Universal and Disney, so you are very close to both when you are staying here. The resort itself is just west of the Animal Kingdom.

Here they offer 1, 2, and even 3-bedroom options to meet any family’s needs. Ranging from over 600 sq ft to over 1,800 sq ft. The 3 bedroom offers the 3rd bedroom as a connected lockout option. If Grandma and Grandad are along on the trip might be great for them.

Villa Amenities

Then the resort itself offers all of these options.

Resort Amenities

Disney has long been a favorite of mine. Not because of anything they have done or produced in recent years, much of that I am not a fan of. The memories I have that connect with Disney and the Florida parks are what still provide a lingering connection and affection for me.

Now, as a man over 50, I look back at the trips I took with family, most of who are no longer with us. I remember all the good and only a little bad that when looked at through a historical lens, is comical.

One thing to remember about your trip is allergy medication. I know a weird thing to mention in a travel blog but I am sharing it because it is a helpful and important tip. The flowers in Florida bloom so richly here that your body may go into a bit of overwhelm by the pollen in the air. I am sure that if you live here you get used to it, but walking through Disney who keeps up their plants by day 2-3 will hit you if you do not plan ahead. So, ahead of your trip, find a good antihistamine that works for you and does not make you tired. It will be your best investment on the trip.

This is the first time I have ever been to Disney by myself. That feels strange in itself, but the booking of my room came available with little notice, so I just kind of got in the car and left. No time to draw someone in for a last-minute mini-vacation. No doubt when I get back home someone will say “why didn’t you call me, I would have gone?” People say that but largely do not mean it.

Although I once took my sister on a last-minute cruise because the girl I was going to take with me broke up with me. A job offer came up for her out of town and she just said goodbye a week before the cruise we had planned. So, I called my sister and said want to go on a free 7-day cruise? Next thing I know, we are headed for Miami to meet the boat. Other than that time, however, it has been hard to get people who all have families, jobs, or businesses to leave town at the drop of the hat.

As a regular customer of Tzort, you do not have to worry about the last-minute thing. You can book on their site ahead of time and plan everything out. As a travel writer, I sometimes take a last-minute booking because someone canceled and there is an opening. So, it is a very different situation than someone booking on the site, if you were wondering.

Disney has so many options these days with 5 parks you have tons of options. I got the park hopper passes for 2 days. That means I can go from 1 to another park as much as I want each day. I did that because since it is just me, I want to hit just the things I want to see in the parks.

I figured today I would try to see new things, then tomorrow I would walk down memory lane with all the spots I have seen many times on my trips with loved ones. Things like the Tiki Room where I swear that I feel my grandfather or dad sitting next to me just like they did when I was 8 or 10.

I stopped to eat in 50’s Prime Time Café it reminds me of a place they had in the past called Moms. I think it is the same place, and they just modified the name. They still say it’s Mom’s kitchen and the staff still mess with kids, and even adults who do not keep up with proper manners and so on.

The first meal we had here 25 years ago, we saw a table full of girls get up and go to the bathroom together as ladies do. The waitress stopped them on their way back to the table and asked if they had washed their hands. They stuttered, and she asked what color the soap was, then sent them all back. Everyone in the place laughed until they cried about that. It was much funnier than you imagine because of the looks on the kids’ faces and the character acting of our waitress.

Maybe it was a hard-to-be-there thing. This meal was great too but no excellent restaurant full of laughing moments.

My waitress hazed me politely by hitting on me the entire meal but in full 50s fashion.

Day Three at Disney

Back to the Magic Kingdom and I do mean that one of the 5 parks. No walk down a Disney memory lane should be outside of the original park, at least for someone born in the 70s like me.

The day starts with regular tickets at 9 AM and can go on until 11 PM. There are early entry deals you can do, but unless it is spring break or one of the top weeks of the summer, you need not worry about those options.

Almost every ride or experience in the Magic Kingdom is original. It’s a small world, Jungle Cruise, the Haunted Mansion, and even my favorite, the Enchanted Tiki Room. I can remember seeing the Country Bear Jamboree when it was one of the first things available and they still had the green tickets. That too is still available to be enjoyed on your visit.

I went to the Hall of Presidents next and it was much as you remember, but with a view of the recent newer Presidents as well. It struck me that when I was young, I do not recall politics impacting my view of this experience. Now I grimaced at points.

The Carousel of Progress was next on my list. Like “It’s a Small World” the song sticks in your mind just the same, well even in a less irritating way.

Finally, I ended my time in the Magic Kingdom by visiting Tom Sawyer Island.

Next, it was time to see Epcot. They have changed a good bit including adding the Guardians of the Galaxy, so I headed to check that out first. Whoops, the building is here, but it does not open yet. So, I headed for the Space section next door. Mission Space is a fun ride and the intense version seems like what the real thing must be.

Funny story. The first time I went on that it had recently been completed and I went with my niece. I am a ride wimp, so we went on the tame version (Green Version). It was still fun, but much calmer than the main ride.

There are 2 versions of the ride here. Orange is not the one for people with blood pressure issues, heart, back, or other issues. But there is that tame version I went on all those years ago.

I spent the rest of the day visiting the countries and all the neat things they offer. I also had a fair share of the nation’s drinks or spirits.

Suppose you want a resort that is very close to Disney and the other main parks, including Sea World and Universal. Book this one through Tzort.