well they would say that wouldn't they, they can't compete so try to rubbish the whole US system.
Florida does have good weather but can also have more severe weather than the UK, it has a hurricane season and rains more in the summer than in the winter, i went in November and experienced fog in the mornings, high winds and very hot, sunny days, the school limit for solo flight was 16 kts if I remember correctly but I was regulary landing in 20-25 kt crosswinds with the instructor present.
Your statement about the runways is correct but just because a runway is 2000m does not mean you use all of it, we used about a third to exit onto the first taxiway, however short field and soft field landings are part of the syllabus of the PPL so short runways in the UK should pose no problem.
I don't really understand the meaning of the last question where they say you only learn parrot fashion, the lessons are structured and the syllabus is the same as the UK, the only difference being you will be flying 2-3 times a day instead of maybe once a week in the UK so you spend less time if any having to go over again previous lessons.
I did an hour or two when I returned and was checked out straight away.
And lastly the RT is slightly different but I didn't find any particulary major problems.