I remember the first time my family went to Florida. We were going just after Christmas and it was a surprise to our sons. Their mother and I cut up the letters spelling DISNEY and put two letters in each of the Christmas Cards to our sons
Now, my sons have always been very strong on Maths but Spelling was not their strong point at this time. "What is a YISNED?", I recall them asking.
After some assistance they managed to work it out and off we went on our first Disney adventure. We stayed in a villa in Kissimmee and drove everywhere. I remember the mix tape I had for the car contained 'Dignity' by Deacon Blue and 'The Whole of the Moon' by The Waterboys and we would sing along to these as we made our way to the parks
At Magic Kingdom we enjoyed Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad and of course It's A Small World. Aladdin had just been released at the movies and the 'Aladdin' Parades in the park were incredible.
We are not the most 'sciencie' family in the world so Epcot was somewhat wasted on us. (Who knows what Epcot stands for?). It did have a Monorail though which allowed us to act like The Simpsons and say "Mono-doh" many more times than we really should have.
Epcot also has a lake in the middle (or World Showcase Lagoon as the say) and surrounding this is the World Showcase, a selection of Pavilions depicting countries from around the globe. These are the most stereotypical buildings and characters you would ever wish to see. Anyone who has ever suffered Dick Van Dyke's accent in Mary Poppins has a fair idea what the United Kingdom Pavilion was like. Norway had vikings, France had the Eiffel Tower, Mexico had Aztecs and Canada had very little.
For their own Showcase though you can endure, sorry enjoy The American Adventure. I quote...
'Hosts Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain will take you through a stirring exploration of America's past. On the way, you'll meet visionaries such as:
Strangely I always thought Alexander Graham Bell was Scottish but who am I to argue with Disney
When we were there I recall, at the end of the show, the audience all stood and applauded. They obviously loved American Patriotism Disney style
The best event at Epcot was undoubtedly the fireworks display from the centre of the lagoon. This was spectacular and given that they did this every evening said a lot for their organisation
We also visited Seaworld but at the time we were there the main attraction Shamu, the killer whale, was pregnant and not really up for entertaining expectant tourists
Our favourite park was definitely Universal Studios with Back to the Future, King Kong, Earthquake and Jaws.
We loved Jaws. When you are sitting in that boat in the middle of an amusement park in Florida you obviously know that the shark is not real. Or is it? When it attacks the boat and you are sitting near the edge it certainly looks real enough. My son tells me that Jaws and Back to the Future have now been closed down. Is nothing sacred anymore?
Universal also had the Psycho House situated up on a hill. I remember we could see it from The Hard Rock Cafe when we were eating there and it seemed like there was a light in the window and someone sitting in a rocking chair. It almost put me off my Cheeseburger
We also drove to Busch Gardens in Tampa and I was forced to go on all the Roller coasters. I recall they eased you in gently and then each one seemed to increase in size until finally you arrived at Kumba. My insides have never been the same again. Although even worse than that was the Swinging Galleon whose arc grew steeper and steeper until you were vertical to the ground and then decided it would be fun to stop when you were upside down. That was horrific. It seems unlikely I will ever make the astronaut programme
I have to say though that writing about these parks has brought back fond memories and I would like to think that Young Ben and I might yet share a roller coaster some time in the future
By the way EPCOT stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow
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