For a family used to a Mediterranean holiday villa, the amenities came as something of a shock. Every room was lavishly equipped and more than comfortably furnished.

There were vast beds, deep-pile carpets, voluminous armchairs, television not only in the living room but also in the master bedroom, a DVD player, telephone (local calls free), a CD player, a washing machine large enough to launder a small army’s smalls, a tumble drier, fridge/freezer, an enormous cooker, a microwave and virtually every kitchen gadget you could want.

And of course there was the solar-heated private pool set within its own patio area and protected from the worst of the elements (and insect life) by mesh screening.

The location was ideal: a five-minute drive from a small shopping complex with a giant supermarket, a video rental outlet and even a Chinese take-away. The estate on which our villa was sited comprised probably around 500 houses, some rented as holiday lets but many clearly full-time homes. It was impressively clean and tidy.

Families go to Orlando for fun, or so my kids kept telling me. The theme parks are open from around nine until midnight in the peak of the season, but 15 hours of such fervent enjoyment is enough to fray the tempers of even the most enthusiastic parkgoer. With a villa you have the ideal option: get to the park early and cram in as many of the rides as you can before the crowds arrive, then pop home for an afternoon by the pool before returning to the park for an evening's fun.

We visited in winter, when the parks tend to close around 6pm. After a long day of Disney-type delights it was blissful to get back to a really comfortable, homely place and to put your feet up, watch a DVD and generally to chill out.

Our family favourite theme park was Universal Studios and its next-door attraction Islands of Adventure, where you can see Jaws, become part of an amazing Spiderman 3D adventure or scare yourself witless on the Hulk roller coaster. We took advantage of the clever Orlando FlexTicket, which aims to undercut Disney; it gets you into Studios, Islands of Adventure, the fabulous SeaWorld (where you can enjoy a soaking courtesy of Shamu the killer whale) and also the Wet ‘n’ Wild water park. But the best part of the FlexTicket is that it can be used in any of the parks, as often as you like, for 14 consecutive days. Thus popping in for just a couple of hours becomes a viable option, if that's what you fancy. You can buy in advance from www.orlandoflexticket.co.uk.

Quite aside from the big parks, there are dozens of smaller attractions. Don't miss Gatorland, a charming little place full of some less-than-charming critters. Unless your life's desire has always been to swim with dolphins, you'd best give the vastly overrated (and overpriced) Discovery Cove a wide berth. And if you are a dolphin fan, ask yourself whether you wouldn't rather see them in their natural habitat rather than one made by man, largely from concrete?