Florida - Where Walt's and John's dreams came true

Left: Looking for the Mouse                                                Right: Looking for the Moon

M has very clear recollections of the 1969 moon landing from when he was little and our whole generation has been hugely impacted by the American space program so no visit to the USA was complete for me, without a visit to Cape Canaveral's Kennedy Space Center, NASA's home.

Fantasy Land Orlando

The first movie I ever went to was Walt Disney's Snow White when it was released in 1975, I can so clearly remember lining up outside the theater, jiggling around vacillating between the terror of them running out of tickets and the excitement of seeing one of my favourite Golden Books in film. Most Saturday nights we would sit and watch 'The Wonderful World of Disney' with Walt introducing the show from behind his big desk, desperately hoping it was going to be an animation. The animal documentaries were next best but I inwardly groaned every time the Daniel Boon theme music began. Disney World is Disneyland on steroids so we decided to make our inner child ecstatic by a visit to the 'happiest place on Earth'.

We went to the film set  tour just out of Watford in London and
now a Wizarding World has opened in California’s Universal 
Studio attraction. The life scale village and castle look 
spectacular.  Clever tech wands that can do magic in certain
 places. Maybe with the grandkids! (No pressure girls.)

As a fan of J.K.Rowling I also toyed with the idea of visiting Universal Studios for a day but a Park to Park day pass (required to ride the Hogwarts Express) was going to cost us $700US and I knew we wouldn't get away without buying butter beer at the Leaky Calderon and other Potter paraphernalia that the budget just couldn't take. In an attempt to sooth my trip planning agitation, Willow said "I'd rather stick with my own imagination instead of being disappointed by other people's created worlds." Dumbledore said in The Goblet of Fire, "There will be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right." He said a lot of other profoundly 'avoiding the straight answer'  things as well; considering how much Rowling borrowed from Classical Literature, I've always wondered if I'd heard it somewhere before.

What have these three places got in common, apart from vicinity - daring to reach for the impossible? For Walt it was the theme parks where families could have fun together - most people thought Disneyland would be a bankrupting failure - the franchise is global now. For Rowling it was financial security to make a safe life for her baby away from her own Tom Riddle. 12 books, 9 movies and 3 Hogwarts based attractions later I think she's managed it. For Kennedy it was to have a man walk on the moon and harvest the technology from that enterprise to usher in the space age into daily living in America.  Walt says 'If you can dream it you can do it'. Dumbledore counters with 'It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.' Kennedy said "If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity." Maybe dreams will come true.

Well enough towering philosophy - settle in for a simple recount of how we had fun together in Florida.

Images from resortloop.com           The magical express service is
not available at Orlando's other airport.

Disney really knows how to market. To book the Disney experience I rang their hotline (available in the UK) and had exceptionally happy  and enthusiastic people answer all my questions without too many up sell attempts. Better deals were available by flying return UK-Orlando but that wasn't on our itinerary.
As soon as we landed at Orlando(MCO) we collected our luggage(there was an option for transfers but it came with a three hour wait) and headed for Disney's Magical Express. We were meet by a large contingent of 'cast members' in well worn but clean musketeer uniforms. The company hires a lot of people close to retirement age, I think the guy in line to serve us was a bit over the big smiles. I know my accent is unique but to not even look as if he was trying to understand what I was saying until I dolloped it up in a big fat American accent was our first entertainment. We were directed to the motor coach heading for the French Quarter resort where we were booked and climbed aboard. I am still amazed at how childishly excited I felt with all the Disney warning signs in happy Disney speak and the welcome DVD shown with all of their magic film tricks meant we didn't see a single alligator or Bayou until the Disney golf course at the entrance of the enormous, 65㎢ property that is Disney World.

The huge double laned roads crisscross across the park. People are moved by highly efficient bus services between the different Disney parks and their resorts, some have monorails or riverboats connecting them. We were there a week after school had returned after the summer break so everything was like clockwork. This was another reason we were able to get a good price on our resort stay (minimum five days) without having to book 18 months ahead.

The check in process was quite involved. We were given special bands, much like the fit bit straps without an interactive face, that were linked to our credit card and the meal vouchures we had booked and paid for before arriving. We had to swipe them at the entry points to all the parks, getting on rides, at the photo viewing booths and purchase points. This allows you to go to the parks wallet free. What was very scary was that the hundreds of merchandise stores, snack shacks and trolley vendors liberally sprinkled over all the parks were also attached! Thankfully the girls were old enough to add up their expenses and didn't imagine that Mr Disney was giving them stuff. I think that you can choose which bands are attached to the credit card?! If you visit in the same month as your birthday you get a special badge so all the cast members wish you well and you and your guests receive a free snack from Mickey Mouse during your visit - ours was an enormous Sundae.

The French Quarter Resort, the affordable rooms opposite the Magic Kingdom were all booked out.
Bottom right is the food hall decorated as a mardigra float creation warehouse.

The food voucher system works well, each level of meal deal (we got the smallest - the Quick service dining plan and we still had to use up credits just before we left, cramming cracker jack packets and things into our carry-ons) is money in Disney's vault. Food credits at the end of your stay are not able to be paid out in cash or swapped for merchandise, if so Willow may have left clutching an enormous Cinderella dolls house with horse and carriage included. There is a list of places where each deal type can purchase food, they encourage you to book reservations a long way ahead if you have one of the table seating plans - to get into the places with character visits etc you need to book very early. We weren't interested in anything like that so were quite happy with the food hall at the resort and the many places in the parks. Knowing where they were in each park helped keep the blood sugar balanced and moods at the compulsory Disney high. Servers were surprised if we said that we didn't want the desert (compulsory with the two entree meals - normal dinner sized servings, allowed per day on our plan) and would offer snacks instead. We were also allowed 4 snacks a day between us, most big enough to share. If this wasn't enough you could also purchase food with your Mickey band.

The jetty on the lake at the resort - straight down the river to Downtown.

Pineapple whip by Dole in Adventureland - Yummy snack

The two best meals were the Dole Whip snack at the Magic Kingdom - so many recipes on line to try and replicate it, and the meal we had at Wolfgang Puck Express at Disney Springs (used to be called Downtown). Delicious fresh food.  The two worst eats were the grits (tiny dry bits of corn kernels in a sticky goo) I tried at the breakfast buffet - I can't read about something in Anne of Green Gables and Little Women and not want to try out their breakfast staple! The woman serving said to me - 'Have you had them before?  Are you sure you want to eat this?'  She told me to get some sausage and stir it in and add salt - gotta say it was like claggy, crunchy dirty dishwater. The other worse thing was the big refillable cup and straw that you took everywhere and didn't have to pay - as long as you wanted soft drink. The cherry cola was pretty good but too tempting. In the resort you could get iced water, make yourself a hot chocolate, or a cup of tea in it (plastic!) but I won't mention the coffee. Everything else was fried or jack cheesed or poked full of sugar, big fresh quantities.

These shuttle buses had their destinations on the front so we never got on the wrong bus, at the park entries and exits they had big boards telling guests where to go to catch the right bus for their resort.  The buses weave in and out of all the resorts to and from their destinations.

As soon as we had locked our luggage away in our room we were off to the bus stop to go to Epcot. This is the least Disney of the parks but takes you on a tour of the world as you wander around the huge lake in the center. It reminded me of Enid Blyton's The Faraway Tree as each new land came into sight.

Epcot    Left:Spaceship Earth     Right:Looking across the lake to the big stage where Wilson Phillip were playing

The Paris scene had the green wooden book seller shelves up against the lake and the Fez area had the blue gate and had somehow managed to replicate the smell of the place as you walked through. So many memories bought back. We noticed on the shop assistant's name tag (Yes these worlds were either stores or restaurants) that he was actually from Morocco. He spoke excellent English and told us that anyone from around the world can apply to work there online. There were Aussie and Kiwi cast members too. Not a bad gap year - imagine if you got to work around all the Disney places - quite a world trip. Just before the big firework finale that evening we wandered into England - the college buildings just took our breath away and made me terribly homesick for Cambridge. The English rockers belting out the great 80's anthems were brilliant.

Morocco and Italy

More serious Princess stock than in other parks.

Just a little bit creepy

Our first Disney ride was at Epcot - in what looked like a giant golf ball, Spaceship Earth. It was sedate tour of humanity from prehistoric man through to what the computer age may become - all beautifully narrated by Dame Judi Dench. The animatronics and scenery were amazing. The girls were desperate for some thrills and spills so they went off to the Speed Test Ride. They got a photo with Snow White in  Germany later.

We all slept soundly that night - although the girls reckon the sounds made it difficult for them.

Darth Mickey

We couldn't wait for the big Disney hit any longer so we left early to get to the Magic Kingdom. It started to rain so we paid 10$ each for PVC ponchos with Mickey on the back - we were well and truly Disneyed now. Since we were already wet we went on Splash Mountain - we convinced M that this was a really tame ride so his head and stomach would be fine - woops - it was only one or two big drops. Suffice to say that was the last ride with chains and pulleys that he went on.

The Magical Kingdom Castle was looking a little sad on this grey day but not even persistent drizzle could wipe the Disney smiles off the kids heading for Tomorrow world.

Really Dad - you're OK - it wasn't that big of a splash!

This was one serve of dessert - she shared - a bit.
I think the rain capes are plain on the front so the Disney T
- you should have bought by now  -can show through.

Magic Kingdom has a little train running around it - a great way to see where everything is and a great way to quickly get from one fast pass ride to the next.

Willow had spent hours organising and booking all our fast pass tickets which also meant that we had to decide, weeks before we arrived, which parks we were going to visit on which days - a handy way for the park organisers to know where the people were going to be on any given day I suppose. It is basically a queue jumping system - you can choose three rides per day but then can go to little kiosks around the place and book more if they're available once you've used your prebooked ones.

We waited and waited and waited for the girls to get off their mine roller coaster - something broke down and they got stuck in the middle somewhere - luckily not upside down! They were escorted out through the staff passages and given fast passes to have another go once it was fixed - I wouldn't have but they did. M was disappointed not to be able to have a ride on the riverboat - the girls were very supportive as they ran off to another roller coaster.

Tomorrow land felt like stepping back into a 1950's future world - quite a disorienting experience. While the girls went on the Seven Dwarves mine coaster we went to the Monsters Inc show - The animated characters on a big screen interacted perfectly with audience interviews and was very funny. Obviously it was live but the technology to lipsync the animations to the observer's responses was flawless.

We were able just to walk into the Arial - clam shell ride - it was very clever how they tricked you into thinking you were going under water. Good music, we all came out humming. In honour of the eldest Couzie we ran down the empty ramps to 'It's a small world after all' and paid dearly with audio insanity for days afterwards. The amount of world scenes were amazing but the dolls were really creepy. At least there were no sudden drops.

They must let the carriages spin just for photo opportunities - trapped girls.  We got stuck on the Peter pan ride too for 10 mins but were looking over a night scene of London so were busy spotting all our favourite places - a bit teary.

The funniest cast member character we meet was Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. He was tall and good looking with a plastic toupee to keep his locks in perfect shape. The guy played the part perfectly - he was the most arrogant, insulting person ever, kids were lining up to get their photos with him and they were verbally slain. Some didn't take it too well.

So uncomfortable talking to someone who isn't real but you know they are - do they know they are?

When Willow and Petal got to him he asked 'So am I the best present on your birthday?" With bright red faces they played along like big fans but when he asked them what they loved most about him Petal said 'Your pouffy hair,' without missing a beat, he nodded and agreed and said 'Yes it doesn't move at all'. I can't write what some of the people had said to them - he didn't pull any punches. Willow said that talking to these 'characters' was really weird, all the time part of your brain was trying to play the expected part responses to theirs but the other was saying 'does he know that I know that he isn't real?'  Meanwhile M had snuck into the village pub where Gaston and his plebs like to hang out and got an apple granita with a dash of toasted marshmallow syrup with a Mango, apple foam on top. Once we had a taste we had to get another to share. A T-shirt with 'I'm your happy ever after' and a hat with 'Grumpy since 1937' on it were tempting.

M shot more thingys than me so he got the medal ceremony!

As we were lining up for the Space Mountain ride we had to listen to a honeymooning couple behind us - a strange place to come for a honeymoon I think but people can even get married there. We meet a woman on one of the buses, who told us that she and her husband only ever holiday at Disney World, they have never been anywhere else. They save up to bring all their kids and parents every third year but they go by themselves for a week in between those visits, they lived up above Chicago somewhere.

The Rapunzel Tower looked great but I couldn't see that it was anything more than scenery - imagineers are very clever.
The Pooh door didn't have anyone stuck in it! I was hoping there would be lots of Milne's cool quotes on things but it was just plush toys - and mostly Snow White's Dwarves rather than the friends from 100 acre wood.

The iconic tea cups - I could have done with a full one about now.

The only ride we had to queue ages for was the Pirates of the Caribbean. It had been closed for much of the day so when its opening was announced there was a stampede. The winding cave passages seemed to go on forever and there were no bathrooms - quite a few people got sneaked through the staff passages out to  the entrance for a relief stop and had to find their way back to family and friends again. It was worth the wait - good actors and lots of stunts. We came out to the dark and caught the end of the nightly parade just before the fireworks going off behind Cinderella's castle.  The hugely long Main St was packed with people so the others decided to run for the bus queues during the display - a bit disappointing to see such an iconic event in your shadow's silhouette.

We couldn't keep M away from space any longer so booked a hire car and he drove us over to the Atlantic Ocean to Cape Canaveral. The road was good and fast but had many tolls. It was really well sign posted so the fact that M's cell GPS kept dropping out was stressful rather than disastrous. For every kid who has ever imagined being an astronaut, the Kennedy Space Center is amazing. We arrived in time to use our 10am entry pass (booked before leaving the UK). M had left his sunglasses behind so first stop after walking through the rocket garden was a store to buy some aviator shades! Just getting into character.

We jumped on the bus tour out around the launch sites to the Apollo/Saturn V centre (part of the admission price) and were just gobsmacked by the scale of everything. The biggest enclosed space in the world (It can fit 3.5 Empire State buildings inside it) is the Vehicle Assembly Building which is where they put all the bits of the space craft together.

These photos were taken through the tinted glass of the tour bus.
Left: To give some idea of scale of the VAB - each star on that flag is 2m wide       Right: The crawler

The huge machines are then loaded onto the crawler - a massive tank like platform that transports the space craft to the launch site. Geologists, hired by NASA, searched for years until they found stones in a riverbank in Tennessee that nothing can induce to spark - you can see why this was an important investment of time. The track is covered in these sparkless river stones and is perfectly level so there are no wobbles to displace the expensive load. The crawler travels at .5m p/hr and gets 36 feet to the gallon (ie .8 km p/hr just over 10m for nearly 4 L)

The launch site

Apollo/SaturnV Center - Everything is huge.

Huge water towers around the launch site spray the area down during launch to dampen noise levels whose vibrations could shake the whole apparatus to bits. The heat and noise will kill anyone too close so the astronauts have to sit in place for an hour while everyone finishes their jobs and gets at least 3.5 miles away from the launch pad before take off.

At the end of the tour is a museum where you can spend as much time as you like until the last bus of the day returns to the visitor complex. A full sized Saturn rocket is hung horizontally from the ceiling, a rock from the moon is in a perspex box with holes for people to reach in and rub it and there is an excellent moon landing presentation with real footage, artifacts and equipment scattered around.

Touching the moon stone - without fingers on the right.

M with the Apollo 14 capsule - The moon lander looked like some STEM project thrown together with what was in dark corners of the teacher's store room. 

The mocked up control room for the moon landing presentation.

Moon buggy and shopping trolley

Back and front of Saturn V

Back at the visitor center, M was approached by a real astronaut, as he was staring at the Atlantis Shuttle's nose cone (the rest of it was attached but he was enjoying every cm).

They talked for a long time. Luckily there was a huge amount to see and do - which M wanted to do as well of course.

The shuttle is hung from the ceiling in the center of the huge warehouse enclosing 'The Atlantis Experience'.

Button King and Queen at play.  The Atlantis flight deck with no gravity issues.

After reading through the memorials to the Columbia and Challenger disasters we lined up for the launch simulator ride.  The warnings were getting M's soft tummy quite worried - "You can change your mind now, it is not too late to pull out of the launch.' It turned out to be rather tame with a bit of seat rattling and jerking rather than floor movement - the graphics and sounds were excellent. The best part was when the roof opened to show Earth once the ship was 'in orbit'. We saw the Hubble telescope display but the Journey to Mars exhibit/ride was not yet open. We stopped in the Space shop and got a couple of T'shirts then had to hurry to make it back to the rental car place in time to get the last shuttle back to our resort.

We drove into a gas station close to where we thought the rental place was - filled up and asked the gas man for directions. We made it 10 mins late but the driver was still there and offered to take us back into the maze of Disney World. We gave him a big tip so he could take the toll way home to be on time and not make his wife unhappy.  Thank goodness the food hall in the French Quarter is open 7- 11 every day. I noticed some of the same people serving at both breakfast and supper - I asked them about their hours and one girl said she'd rather do four long days than six normal ones - fair enough.

Everyone can be a film star on the NY set.

Next day we went to Hollywood Studios. So many stores filled with witty Ts, Petal bought 'Chillin with my villians' - thought it matched her Globe 'Something wicked this way comes' shirt - I'm a bit worried about the pattern here. The Classic film tour was interesting - the exploding house in the western section quite exciting.

I loved the Star Wars simulation piloted by C3PO - all the stores after the rides were full to bursting and it took so much will power to get through untagged - didn't manage it this time - a Mellenium Falcon was purchased - as a Christmas present for another fan. Willow had booked four fast passes for the Aerosmith Rock'n Roller coaster, the girls were happy for a second turn using their parents' bracelets! It was a really hot day but there were plenty of shaved ice and cold water bottles around to buy.

We were happy not to have to sing in the rain

The improv street performers were really good, Willow was called upon to provide a name of an animal from her hometown for one set - she so loves audience participation.

The seating was just as empty on the other side of us - very glad to be here without huge crowds.

We enjoyed the Indiana Jones Show - all done from the point of view of the 2nd unit(stunt doubles) as you would expect lots of explosions, near death scenes and trickery!

Poor Mike Wazowski has to put up with very awkward - do I really want to do this - hugs compared to his fluffy friend.
The people in the suits have minders that keep them to really strict schedules - limiting their time in the suits I guess. Willow and Petal were the last allowed in for the session, the previous groups of people had been pushed through really fast for their photos but Sully and Mike mucked around with the girls for ages, pretending to steal their shopping bags to look inside and telling jokes at each other's expense - in character. Then they went off for their morning tea break.

Pixarland was a treat and having a pic with childhood hero Sully was a thrill for Petal. I was waiting for that horrible monster to burst through the wardrobe door - that wouldn't be very Disney though I suppose. The Toy Story ride was booked out for the whole day so we went and watched the Muppet show instead. Pixarland has really good activities for the smaller people.

That evening was a big show in a specially designed lake arena called Fantasmic. Mickey conducted and floating floats of Disney characters that came out reacting to the music. Films were projected up onto sheets of water - lots of the villains were shown with their nefarious faces and evil laughter echoed around the stadium, lots of families had to leave with screaming, terrified toddlers.  Of course it was all in Mickey's imagination and ended happily ever after - this is Disney after all.

Our last day was booked for Animal Kingdom - we were hoping there would be a lot more green than painted concrete.

Poss rang to warn us of the approaching cyclone that didn't come to anything but some heavy rain in the evening - we were lucky but quite wet. Willow carried the backpack and had to go through the search lane so M enjoyed sauntering through the 'guests with no bags gate 'with only his bleeping bracelet to light up the welcome pole for the first time. We were really impressed with how Disney does special needs provisions. All buses are fitted with suspension lifts and ramps, folding seats so each can take wheelchairs and mobile scooters. Special cast members assist parents with disabled children and all the playground facilities have unobtrusive designs to help most kids to be independent. My camera was exhausted by day four and decided to not let it's card fill up - disappointing.

Left: Kali Rapids with the buttons for observers            Right:Anyone sad we missed Expedition Everest 

Willow had booked us in for The Kali Rapids ride first?! We got soaked for very little thrill but it was all worth it to see the look of joy on M's face as he pushed buttons to make a couple of water squirting elephants wet us as we spun under a bridge he was waiting for us on.

The Yeti Cafe and their guests are serious about condiments.

The Yeti cafe had nice fresh salads and sandwiches for brunch and lots of wildlife looking out for any scraps.

The narrative was very entertaining

 We managed to get into the back seat of the Safari adventure which was a very bumpy four wheel drive open bus through zoo enclosures. The Flamingos were very pink and the giraffes had babies. Afterwards there were a few forest walks and animal interactions that were lovely.

M would rather have driven the safari himself - with the windows down.

Fantasy still reigns. Left: the bridge 'collapsed' as the safari tour drove over it - by the time I'd turned around to get a photo it was back to normal.

Next we went and lined up in the fast pass lane for the Lion King Show. We had never made it to the musical in London so we were looking forward to the condensed Disney version. Fabulous voices, comedy and costumes - an absolute must if you ever get the chance. A little too much audience participation for M and Willow. Timon was the MC and was very cheeky - funny how each Disney show has a 'lovable rouge' who only gets a smile when rude to audiences where anyone else delivering the line would be censured.

Lion King Festival - story - musical - circus.

Some of us were looking forward to the biggest ride in this park but it was booked for near the end of the day, M developed a headache but luckily there was a first aid office that gave out packets of non-asprin paracetamol which managed to take the edge off. Willow's back was out of whack - she blamed it on her turn with the back pack but I think the crazy rides probably had more to do with it.

This tree took 10 artists and 3 imagineers 18months of full time work to create - there are 325 animals to find carved on its trunk, roots and branches. A 3D Graeme Base book. It lights up and tells stories at night.

We decided to go back to the resort mid afternoon - the crazy hours and packing up stress of the last few weeks were catching up so the three had a siesta while I took all our dirty clothes to the laundry. It was a very impressive system with no coin required - punch in the jobs of the machines you want, swipe your card - not your bracelet, and off they go. It was very satisfying to have two machines on the go. 45mins later everything was transferred to driers, in another 40mins I was sorting and folding. Gotta love commercial machines in holiday resorts. The family awoke, put their clean garments away and we headed down to the jetty to catch the riverboat to Downtown, this is all shops and restaurants. We were looking forward to a gentle trip back but the storm came and the lightening threat was apparently too great to risk the boat trip so we got pretty wet waiting for buses to arrive. Hundreds of people were queuing but only 40 or so could fit in the provided shelters at a time.

A view of Downtown Disney from the Riverboat - the storm clouds are coming.

The merchandise doesn't try to hide behind thematic scenes - massive floor space and rats everywhere.

 Downtown or Disney Springs as it is now called, had shops with people working embroidery machines so anything could be personalised. It had a big pin swap center that lots of kids were queuing in. The biggest Disney toy and apparel shops I saw in the whole place were here - big department stores filled with Disney.

All the favourites - Willow was close to packing her Cinderella dress to wear here. 

Lots to collect if you have space in your case. The advertising image in the middle is not selling the wee princesses but the Bibbity-bobbity-boo princess makeover experience.

I am so very glad we did not come 10 years ago - what is nostalgic now would have been desperate then.

 There was a shop filled with hats that costume designers made - these were beautiful and very pricey. Other more brand oriented stores dotted around too and so many restaurants. Live performances were on most corners and there were plenty of Disney statues to get your photo with. After a good look around we went back to Wolfgang Pack for a late dinner, very pleased to have indoor seating when the downpour started. Lastly we had a look around the Disney Christmas store next door. Lots of pretty for lots of dollars. Only a very little tucked its way into my bag for the tree that year.

A yummy meal at Wolfgang Puck Express
In the renovations this has been upgraded
to a Table Service menu destination not a Quick service one.

The next morning we thought we had time to go back and finish Animal Kingdom but there was a mix up with our check ins - two of us were checked onto our flight and the other two weren't.  It all got sorted in the end - luckily Delta don't have the same - drag'em off kicking and screaming policy that United has been blasted for in the news this week. We bought a couple of luggage tags in the resort store and a hat for M, paid the balance on our card, had a last cherry cola and caught the Magical Express back to the airport.

We had a wonderful time but I doubt that I will ever be back again. Thank you Florida.