We were in Orlando when the Mall at Millenia opened on 18 October. The I-4 was virtually gridlocked - we were checking in to HRH that day and it took us almost 1.5 hours to get from our villa on US192 to Universal! It wasn't until we saw a report on the news that evening that we realised what had caused the mayhem. I think they reported something like 60,000 visitors on that first day.
We didn't visit until a week later on 25 October and it was fairly quiet then. I loved it - it's upmarket and classy without being stuffy. I'd think twice about walking into stores such as Tiffany, Chanel and Louis Vuitton in London or Beverly Hills, but the staff at the Mall at Millenia were really friendly. In fact the girl in Louis Vuitton recognised me from Tod's at The Premium Outlet Mall where she'd been working the week before! I like the way the designer stores are mixed up with the high street stores. There are a couple of one-off stores too and plenty of electrical and gadget stores to keep the boys happy (Matt would have been happy to spend all day in Bestbrands, Vernon!).
We also had our first taste of The Cheesecake Factory and loved it. It has a huge menu with something for everyone - pizza, pasta, steak, burgers, and so much more. And, of course it would have been churlish not to have tried the cheesecake!