From Disney to Universal Studios, sunny Orlando has all you need this holiday

While the mood outwith the entertainment parks is somewhat sombre – Orlando was fully blue for Clinton after all – none of the politics filters into the make-believe world of Disney and the Universal Studios.

Visitors seeking to blank out recent events need nothing stronger than a dose of movie magic with some of the most popular creatures created for the big screen to shake off their blues.

We head to Disney’s Epcot, or the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, which opened in 1982 to showcase new technologies and ideas in the United States and around the globe.

At the gates, we see the iconic, gigantic golf ball which has become to symbolise the park, close up. Turns out there is a ride inside, Spaceship Earth, which tells the history of communication and its possible future.

Then there are the various countries of the world on permanent display and as we have very conveniently arrived during the annual food and wine festival, we are in for yet another treat.

I can see traditional Chinese buildings and huts that can only be African.

Japan, Italy and France are further away and I can also spot Mexico and if my eyes are not deceiving me, the skyline also sports a replica of Big Ben. It would be easy to travel around the world in just 82 minutes should I choose to do so.

But as all of those countries – and the continent - have incredible food on offer my walk around the globe is in serious trouble as I try to decide what goods to sample.

In the end I join a random queue and am rewarded with a glass of German Riesling and a rather tasty bit of Bratwurst.

We wander through Norway – via Queen Elsa’s Frozen – and I experience a sudden bang of homesickness. The Scandinavian country reminds me of my neck of the woods in Finland.

It is clear that Epcot is no longer just an adult park, Disney has pushed the boat out to make the experience one to remember for younger visitors too.

Various rides dot the area and kids can even say hello to Nemo and friends while creating a unique souvenir to take home.

And it is here I have my brief encounter with the most famous Donald in the world.

There is so much to see with all our senses on overdrive that it is a relief to head back to the hotel for a brief respite.

We are based at the luxurious Four Seasons at Walt Disney World Resort, well inside the Golden Oak gated community with its waterways and ponds, and are treated to a cracking dinner at the hotel’s roof top restaurant, Capa, followed by Orlando’s infamous fire works.

I can actually see them from my balcony, which faces the resort's adult only pool with the kids’ play area further to my right.

There is a spa – I thoroughly recommend a full body massage and its numerous wet rooms – plus a lazy river along which you can float while enjoying the sun.

The boutique hotel, for it is small in Orlando standards with just 443 rooms, opened a couple of years ago and is so secluded it is apparently a huge draw for celebrities. But the only stars we spot are Mickey, Minnie and Goofy, who come and greet guests at the breakfast table - not that we are complaining.

Our next stop is the city’s zoological park, SeaWorld, which is known for some of the biggest rollercoasters in the USA and for its marine rescue programme.

It’s been some 20 years or so since I last put myself through the twists and turns of such rides and am quickly reminded why – they are far too scary for me. But just to make sure I have overgrown rollercoasters, I’ll try another couple but with my eyes firmly shut all the way through.

SeaWorld holds another fascination too. It very possibly has the only penguin in the world dressed in a wetsuit. The female Adelie penguin shed its feathers – something that can happen in the wild - and stood shivering in its enclosure until the kind staff came up with the brilliant solution last year.

Our whirlwind journey also takes us to Disney’s Animal Kingdom for a Savanna safari. It is an impressive tour although spotting the wildlife in the darkening night proves a bit of a challenge.

The morning balloon ride is cancelled thanks to a wall of fog but it means we have longer than scheduled at the Universal resort, where we enjoy a belly-bursting lunch at the steampunk themed Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen.

Although clearly following in the footsteps of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, it is an experience in its own right. Where else do you think you could sample a loaf sprinkled with chocolate chips and spread with almond butter? It may not sound like everyone’s cup of tea but take my word for it, it is rather tasty.

But I can barely wait to have the lunch over and done with, for I have a date with a rather dazzling young wizard.

As it happens that date has to be postponed while we experience the first of our rides, the 3D King Kong where have a close encounter with the giant ape.

We don’t only become part of the adventure with our car swinging, shaking and rattling. There are also other, rather realistic effects which are repeated as we take a trip to Jurassic Park to follow the trail of dinosaurs on a rescue mission.

It is here that I get a mouthful of slime that leaves me gagging. Until I realise it is only water. The adventure ends in a plunge through darkness into a splash pool.

And the pictures from the rides show I am not the only one who got a bit of a fright.

But it is the Wizarding World of Harry Potter that I can’t wait for. As a huge fan, I re-read – for about the 20th time or so my friends tell me – the whole series ahead of the trip and very nearly embarked on a box-set marathon to watch the films.

No matter how well you know the characters and places in JK Rowling’s world of magic or even if you couldn’t care less, it is impossible for this experience to leave you cold.

We take in Hogwarts and the nearby village of Hogsmeade before boarding the train back to King’s Cross Station and platform 9 and ¾.

After a quick tour of Springfield to say hello to the Simpsons and an exhilarating Transformers ride we bid the world of movies goodbye and head for a spot of more serious culture.

The City of Winter Park - outside downtown Orlando – is the home of the largest Tiffany collection in the world housed in The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art.

But rather than jewellery, this place is about the stunning glasswork that Louis Comfort Tiffany created during the latter part of the 19th and early part of the 20th century.