We have only ever been to France when I was little and I can’t remember it, so we were all really excited to be going on a plane. 

The planes had flaps that move on the wings that acted like brakes. There were also TV screens on the 777 plane for watching films and playing games. 

I liked the Universal hotel that we stayed in because it had an interesting Italian theme and the theme parks were cool. It was called the Portofino. My brother Jenson and I liked sitting on the Vespa motorbikes at the hotel.  

We also liked the swimming pools. There was a duck in the pool swimming with us on the day that we came home, which was funny. 

We went to the Universal theme parks a lot and I really liked all of the water rides. I also liked the Men in Black ride where you got to shoot at aliens with a laser gun. The ET ride said thank you to us at the end and says your name, which is cool.  

During the Simpsons ride, it felt like the carriage we were sat in was used as a giant dummy by a giant Maggie, which was cool. 

I also liked X-MEN Accelertron ride where you had to spin around as fast as you could to help defeat Magneto. 

The Jurassic park ride was great too. My Dad was stood in the splash zone at the bottom of the final drop with my brother and he got as wet as my mum and I did.  

My little brother liked the high train in Dr Seuss Land. He also liked The Cat in the Hat ride where it told you the story from the book and also the One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish ride where you had to move up and down to the music.

My absolute favourite ride was the Bildge Rat Barges, which is a water ride. We went on it so many times.

One day we went to Kennedy Space Centre. We saw an alligator when we went to see the space shuttle Atlantis on the launch pad. 

The shuttle Endeavour landed the same day that we went to the space centre but, by the time we arrived, it had been put into its shed. 

There was a rocket garden where rockets and space shuttles were put in rows with some bushes separating the spacecraft. I got to take part in Star Trek Live and hold some Tribbles on stage. 

We had an amazing time. Thank you, Universal, for making our holiday so much fun.

by Damon Marlow