Residing, as we English usually do, in the United Kingdom, we have a plethora of choices for our annual vacations.
Those in employment here receive on average between four to six weeks annual paid leave per calendar year. It’s a right of employment in this country, and something everyone is grateful for, for obvious reasons. You see, it gets cold here, and as much as we are used to it by now, we’d really prefer it to be a little more tropical.
So when our government tells our bosses to give us time off work, with a pocket full of pounds to play with, our first thought lies with travel agencies, flights, hotels and a sunnier climate.
The vast majority choose Greece, Turkey or Spain as a first choice. Sun and beaches the priority. Portugal, Southern France and Cyprus a close second place, for the same bright and sandy reasons. The rest of Europe – Italy, Germany, Scandinavia, etc. – are also on the table for those seeking culture, architecture and sights as opposed to lounging on a lounger by the pool for 12 hours a day.
Scotland and Ireland are a closer to home, less-expensive alternative, but only in their summer months!
Only those in a more affluent working and home life environment can manage further afield. The U.S. of course. Australia and New Zealand. The Far East. Africa.
My geographical point is that there is a destination for everyone. Somewhere to suit all needs, tastes and budgets.
So why then, with all this diverse array of far-reaching, wide-spread, cultural choice, do I personally have no desire to travel anywhere other than a 27-square-mile sector of Central Florida?
It’s a question I’ve been asked before: “You’re going to Florida? Again? Didn’t you go not long ago?”
The sandy beaches set don’t get it. They are happy to spend a couple of hundred pounds on an all-inclusive hotel for two weeks, to sit by a pool or on a beach 10-12 hours a day, and have minimal interactions and minimal movement during their trip.
So when they overhear my wife and I discussing being in line at 8am to enter a busy theme park, only to continually walk around for 10 hours a day and stand in long lines to ride what they consider ‘kiddie rides’, they question our sanity.
More so when they know it’s just the two of us; a late-20s/early-30s couple with no kids.
They want to know why we don’t want to see the world. Travel far and wide. See the sights. Take in the cultural spots. Just… go somewhere different?
Up until our most recent trip (our honeymoon, which according to some we should have spent relaxing in Maui or the Bahamas) I hadn’t defended our choice with too much fervour.
As I say, they have already made up their minds that we are insane. That we have chosen poorly. That its ‘just for kids’ and we should do something more ‘adult’. So, like the snow queen Elsa herself, I let it go, and carry on planning, and build a snowman. Well, perhaps not the last part.
Then just recently, at a family gathering, I started recounting tales of the honeymoon we had just enjoyed, recalling fond memories of 16 days in that Central Florida cocoon we call our second home. I would much rather call it our first home. That is the bucket list.
As I spoke I began to notice that the cultural diversity, the far-reaching sights and the see-the-world vigour some wished for us was possible – within that Floridian cocoon!
In those 16 days we partook in various activities and attractions which gave us a taste of the world. We witnessed cultural diversity, visited many (albeit faux) areas of the world, travelled far and wide, ate worldly cuisine and even managed to partake in some activities that you can’t do on earth!
For starters, our hotel – Coronado Springs – was themed with American Southwest/Northern Mexican detailing. The rooms were set out in Casitas and Cabanas, and main pool themed as a dig site complete with Mayan pyramid, and the eateries served authentic Mexican cuisine such as tacos and enchiladas. So even before heading out on our travels we had experienced a large area of the world.
In the parks we were immersed in a plethora of different areas of the world.
We began at the Magic Kingdom, having travelled across the world’s Seven Seas to do so. We walked out onto Main Street USA, experiencing small-town America in the early 1900s. From there we walked into an adventure through exotic jungles and Middle-Eastern themes. We even took a river cruise which went on for niles and niles and niles and niles!
We mixed with pirates in the Caribbean, flew over Agrabah on magic carpets and visited a treehouse built on a desert island in the South Seas.
Next we visited the Old West, took a runaway mine train ride, splashed down a mountain and watched a great hoe-down with some country bears. Into the days of liberty next, as we watched all 43 US presidents give a rousing patriotic presentation, rode a paddle steamer on the rivers of America and visited a spooky old house.
We briefly sojourned away from reality to take a trip into fantasy next, singing along with the world’s children, flying with Dumbo, spinning with the Mad Hatter, journeying under the sea, swaying in a mine cart with seven smaller gentlemen, getting stuck in a ‘hunny’ pot with Pooh and regally riding horses with Prince Charming. And when we got hungry we ate in a beast’s castle, before hearing tales told by the beast’s beauty.
Into the future we then travelled, witnessing an alien teleportation device in action, helping Star Command defeat an evil emperor, laughing with monsters and travelling through space to Spaceport 75. On the way we rode a speedway, and charted the progress of American industry in a moving carousel theatre.
As we moved to different locations around our chosen destination we dropped 13 stories in an abandoned 1939 hotel lift shaft, took a super-stretched limo (upside-down) to an Aerosmith concert, soared over California, took a mission to Mars, participated in an African safari, took on the might of the Yeti in the Forbidden Mountains, saved a dinosaur from extinction, toured the stars on an out-of-this-world trip with C3PO, saw the Muppets ‘live’, designed and rode our very own simulator car at 64.9mph and journeyed into our own imaginations.
We visited 11 different countries in the space of one afternoon, eating the best cuisine from around the world, prepared by chefs and served by waiting staff from those very countries. We took a boat ride through Mexico, and would have done the same in Norway, but apparently the water was ‘frozen’ over.
We witnessed the wonder of birds of prey in flight. Saw shows featuring fictional friends such as Belle, Simba and Nemo, saw cars and archaeology professors pull off some great stunts and witnessed more fireworks spectaculars than the whole of the UK on our Guy Fawkes Night put together.
We dined from the grills of California and the Teppan chefs of Japan. We saw Ellen win at Jeopardy, beating stupid Judy while on a quest to learn about energy. We listened to a not-so-stupid Judy narrate the passage through time of our planet.
I could go on, but I think you get the picture. I haven’t even mentioned the other Central Florida attractions.
It’s difficult to explain the wonder of Walt Disney World to your friends and colleagues in a snap-shot sentence which will give them a sense of why it is the only place for us. It’s hard to sum it all up in a way that will perhaps make them re-think their notions that ‘it’s just for kids’ or that ‘it’s all cartoons and furry costumes’.
So I have taken another tact with those who question why we would rather save for two years to travel to WDW than take a trip to the sun and sand every few months.
I run through the above detail of our trip. If they allow me the time, I explain all that we did do, all the places we did go, all the excitement we had and all the memories we created.
After that, they struggle to see why we would want to go anywhere else!
