"We're going to Walt Disney World!" That was the decision for our family vacation this year, so early one morning in January, I found myself looking out the window of our jet as we landed at Orlando International Airport. (Yes, we took the red-eye flight from LAX.)
It had been 10 years since my last visit to the "Theme Park Capital of the World" and the area around Orlando was now a sea of houses and hotels where there used to be orange groves.
Ever since Walt Disney announced his huge purchase of land (more than 27,000 acres) in 1965, Orlando has been going through a transformation. One of its largest employers was Martin Marietta, primarily a large government defense contractor, and the other was the U.S. Air Force (Orlando International used to be McCoy Field). The growing of citrus fruits, primarily oranges, was one of its major industries. But since Disney arrived, the primary business has become tourism.
I looked forward to the trip, but there was a bit of melancholy in my mind; I had worked on a lot of attractions during my 21-year Disney career (which included 11 years as an Imagineer), for Epcot and other Walt Disney World theme parks. I also worked on one (Terminator 2 3-D) for Universal Studios, after leaving Disney in 1993.
I hoped that some of those were still running as well as when I worked on them some 20 to 30 years ago. Terminator was running, but a key gag, where the Terminator rides into the theater on a motorcycle, was not working. There is one film at Epcot that hasn't changed, "Impressions de France." It is still a fabulous musical and visual treat, but a few of the scenes after 35 years could use updating with new visuals.
But that aside, this trip was going to be about seeing all we could as a group of 10 (4 of my adult kids, their significant others and my wife) in seven days, including several nice dinners.
So we got out our wands, ready to face Harry Potter and his wizard friends, and had our cameras ready for Mickey Mouse, Goofy and the gang _ we were there to ride lots of rides, cast spells and have dinner with the Beast from "Beauty and the Beast." Here's a guide to Disney's enormous playground.
