Orlando Theme Parks
I have just come back from a holiday where I spent 2 weeks in Orlando, visiting the theme parks.
We visited 9 in total, 2 of them twice. The two we visited twice were Disney’s Magic Kingdom and SeaWorld. The 2 we didn’t visit were Busch Gardens in Tampa because it would have cost us over $200 to get there in a taxi and Acquatica because we visited two other water parks and ran out of time.
Overwhelming impressions? The parks were full of international middle class rich families. We talked to people all over the world in the queues. Our taxi driver told us local people could not afford them. He was certainly clueless about what went on in them. Most local people in Orlando are on minimum wage and have to do 2-3 jobs to get by. It reminded me of the film Florida.
The other thing that made me laugh was that I have never seen so many very large kids asleep in buggies. The theme parks rent out double buggies. OR so many old people infirm enough to be driving around on mobility scooters. The theme parks rent out scooters. Was this to get preferential treatment for their families in queues? I wasn’t sure.
The food was samey on site and expensive, but you can bring in bottled drinks and sandwiches although we were told you couldn’t. Just no glass, alcohol or selfie sticks.
REMEMBER! Every day there is a thunderstorm – usually early afternoon and everything gets shut down.
On 4th July we waited and waited for evening fireworks at Disney’s Magic Kingdom that did not happen due to ‘inclement weather’ until we had given up and were waiting in the bus station.
For Disney theme parks the taxi driver drops you off at Epcot and you have to get buses everywhere else. The first day this didn’t register and we were waiting in the wrong giant car park for our taxi to arrive. They all look the same.
The great thing about the parks is that there is always something to do. 8 hours a day was about my limit though. With Disney’s fast pass there was really not that much waiting and because I would not go on the really scary rides my companion went single rider and got through long queues in less than 30 minutes.
I don’t really understand why people take very young children. There are so many rides they can’t go on. Most of them just seemed permanently asleep in buggies. There was minimal screaming and yelling in queues. I only saw one young man with learning difficulties have a melt down around one of the fairground stalls when he wanted a particular red snake. In the end his dad bought it for him.
Pristine landscaping everywhere – inside and outside the parks. The taxi driver told us they were all built on swamps and they spend a fortune spraying everywhere to eliminate bugs. Lots of white cranes.
What will I remember as extraordinary? Both in SeaWorld actually which my children had told me not to visit because of terrible press about torture to the whales. One was a show where a diffident young man in his late 20s had created a performance out of blowing bubbles – bubble pop – and a group of young women who put together a stage show using rescue animals including a rat, various cats and dogs, cockatoos, ducks and a pig . Pets Ahoy. It was funny and utterly charming. I did like the Harry Potter sets too, but it was raining and overcast so the pictures did not come out very well.
Which park did I like the best? Epcot – but then I am old.
My holiday read which I found in the timeshare – Cypress Pointe Resort – excellent service.
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Great tick off lists for stuff you need to master if you want to be successful and a fascinating chapter on the value of your sexual drive in achieving your ambitions.