Trip Report MILESTONE TRIP! First Orlando Visit, Final Disney Park!

THE TIME HAS COME!

In just about a week, I will be starting my very first ever trip to Orlando…and all therein that may be explored.

As the title suggests, among other milestones, this trip will see me visiting my 12th and final Disney Park – Magic Kingdom itself! I have traveled extensively, with all the other Disney Destinations worldwide under my belt, yet somehow I have so far resisted the allures of the Vacation Kingdom. In this week days leading up to my departure, I’ll be going over “why not yet,” “why now,” my itinerary, maybe even soliciting some travel advice.

But for now…Who’s going?

Me after a hike at Bryce Canyon (the real Big Thunder). My beard is much calmer now.​

Just me. Doug. Typically I’m a regular of the Imagineering forums, but I'm just a dilettante on these Trip Report boards. Traveling solo, as is my wont.

Where? Universal’s Endless Summer Resort for three nights, then the Walt Disney World Swan for like a week.

When? September 21st – October 1st.

The broadest plan is to see as much of Orlando as I can (both Disney and beyond) in the week+ prior to Magic Kingdom’s 50th. That means plans to see Walt Disney World, Universal, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, even the Fun Spots.

Over ambitious, perhaps? Sure it is, but I’ve done my research, and I know my travel style and what I'm capable of! Let’s do this!

 

[D Hulk]

To enjoy my beer flight in a leisurely manner, I retired to the shade of the American Adventure amphitheater. The maple trees at the lagoon's edge guaranteed a calming, cooling breeze, making this the most reliably relaxing place in World Showcase.

A mariachi band was performing. I remained for around 30 minutes soaking in the music and ambiance and booze. This amphitheater is possibly overall the best thing in World Showcase. My tiny home town offers concerts in the park which are equally as enjoyable. Those are free.

I reached the Italy Pavilion seeking Drink #5.

There are occasional moments in each WS pavilion where you can frame out the surrounding massive walkways and panoramic views towards Future World, where you can tune out the weird architectural proportions of the shrunken replicas, and World Showcase briefly appears more as it ought to.

I stopped at some quick service restaurant whose name I cannot recall and I procured a chardonnay. In general I tried to find the most interesting & representative drink from each nation, though in practice 50% of the time I got beer.

I was starting to feel the intoxicating effects of mixing alcohols, so I figured I out to fill my belly again with something to soak up the poisons. I paused at the Food & Wine Festival Spain Cart where I went with a small plate of paella. True to expectations, this was at best middling paella...and such small portions too! (Rim shot!)

There was a shaded spot near the waters where I could appreciate my food & wine in relative comfort, albeit still standing up and not especially cooled by the tree cover. Shade seems to be a shockingly rare commodity in World Showcase's wide open lagoon pathways, so crowds jostle for the fleeting chances to sit down away from the sun.

After I polished off my latest course, I resumed my pilgrimage. I wandered and explored the side paths of World Showcase just as much on this revisit as I did on my initial tour, though without the stress of completionism this time. Being slightly inebriated at this point, I was in a better mental state to meander without purpose.

Preparing for this next leg, I returned to the Spain Cart for another drink...a water. This recap is mostly eliding this point, but I drank free cups of water at roughly every other pavilion all along the route. I wanted to stave off the worst possible effects of heavy alcohol consumption in the sunny Floridian humidity. Between the waters and the occasional snack, I was successful.

Before reaching the Germany Pavilion proper, I spent a little time at the model railroad.​

 

[DisneyAndUniversalFan]

Another great writeup Hulk.

 

[D Hulk]

Next I went to the Germany Pavilion.

I got a little closer.

I went inside, discovering a buffeteria and an oompa band.

I went back outside.

I entered a chocolate shoppe, where I purchased and devoured a Mickey-shaped marshmallow thing.

I obtained a German stout from a beer vendor, which I enjoyed A) seated on a bench B) in the shade.

“You’re right, no human being would rake leaves like this.”

Then I moved on.

As I approached the China Pavilion, I dreaded the prospect of drinking Chinese alcohol. The worst (professionally-made) beer I ever had was in China. Thankfully, there was a Food & Wine India cart I could use as a Drinking Around the World substitute.

Sensing that the booze inside of me needed some soaking up, I procured more food: a chicken tikka masala probably, from the looks of it. I chose a mango lassi for my next drink, which counted towards the challenge since it came mixed with liqueur. Of course, neither item came even remotely close to the standard I enjoyed in India proper. I don’t think the lassi was even technically a lassi; its icy, watery texture and its oddly artificial chemical flavor both suggested this was instead the illegitimate stepchild of the dreaded Blue Milk. It was not satisfactory.

Blue Lassi Shop in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. Mmm...

I would be a fool of the highest caliber to expect genuine lassi on par with India, even though - again! - World Showcase sets itself up for failure by conjuring up memories of delightful international treats and then providing slop. Simply seeing lassi on the menu inspired strong memories, as food is famous for, recalling days in Varanasi trying hole-in-the-wall joints famed for saffron-infused lassis and other delights like gulab jamun…nowhere on the menu here. This Epcot version let me down, and I became like the masala: overly salty.​

 

[D Hulk]

I grow exceedingly weary of describing and dwelling upon Epcot. I do not enjoy it. So I'll level with you! To move this Trip Report into its final stretch, I'll simply recap the remaining entirety of this Epcot evening, followed by a series of image-only posts. How's that sound?
​

---

Drinking Around the World was starting to get to me upon reaching the Norway Pavilion, so I broke my "no ride" rule and did Frozen Ever After with a wholly acceptable 20 minute wait. It is the Epcot ride which I enjoy. Afterwards I scarfed down a school bread, which was my favorite Epcot treat of the day...possibly because I don't yet know Scandinavia firsthand, so I couldn't recognize how much Epcot screwed up this particular cultural dish. Afterwards, I drank a Norwegian beer between the stave church and the pyramid.

At the Mexico Pavilion I got a well margarita from Cava de Tequila. It was certainly boozy, and it was severely over-flavored, likely to mask the presence of cheap tequila. I drank this in the transitional space between World Showcase & Future World - one of the few available seating spots - while the sun completely set.

At the Canada Pavilion I found a Food & Wine cart purporting to be an extension of Le Cellier. I was hungry again, so I got a small filet mignon served house-style: under-seasoned and shockingly overcooked. If that represents the food quality inside of Le Cellier...woof! I choked it down with, like, a Cabernet Sauvignon.

Lastly at the UK Pavilion I snagged a lager from a corner cart. Upon completion, this would mark a successful 11-for-11 Drinking Around the World effort. I slowly imbibed the brew over the long course of an hour while out on a ledge overlooking World Showcase Lagoon. I had a water too. The impact of 11 drinks over an afternoon became apparent, and I felt a mild, slothful drunkenness.

Eventually Harmonious began. I watched it from a poor angle on the UK shoreline. I couldn't see the main show projections, but as a tradeoff I couldn't see the show's non-Euclidian Hellgate infrastructure beforehand. Nighttime Disney spectaculars rarely wow me, unless they're Fantasmic or Paint the Night, so as expected Harmonious left me underwhelmed. It turns out that's the general fan consensus!

I walked all the way back to the Swan afterwards, since the post-Harmonious crowds made the Friendships extremely inconvenient. (The Skyliner queue was utterly nightmarish!) I drank plenty of water upon reaching my room, finally in air conditioning cooler than 80 degrees. Sleep, or rather unconsciousness, came easy.
​

---

And now, images...

 

[D Hulk]

And now, Harmonious:

 

[D Hulk]

Upside down!

Sideways!

Next up: My final day. I visit a few minor Orlando attractions, and I bid a hasty retreat.​

 

[amjt660]

I take issue with the notion that eating & drinking is an essential part of Epcot. If this is such a crucial cornerstone to appreciating World Showcase, it's shouldn't be an upcharge! Or rather, since Epcot is more of a shopping district than a theme park by most sane definitions, there shouldn't be an obscene $109+ cover charge to enter.

So your response was to pay the admission and drink/eat at (almost) every pavilion while your bank account balance dove towards the depths of hell?

When in Rome....

I said my peace on an earlier day that World Showcase is actively not trying to offer authentic international experiences, that the whole thing is a sanitized, sterilized, stereotyped, Americanized fantasy for Orlando tourists to pretend like they're worldly for a day. This is fiction masquerading as documentary. It's Fantasyland for adults, only it doesn't have the honesty to admit that. If it tried to be more overtly make believe, if it didn't strive to be World Substitute, I would take much less issue. I see comments all the time that from fans who breathlessly praise World Showcase (who crow how they "literally" traveled around the world!) but refuse to learn more about the nations it represents, and I fear that World Showcase's noblest goals are failing.

Let's get drunk!

No more airing of grievances.

(still loving the report)

Max

 

[D Hulk]

October 1st
Final Day​

October 1st, 2021, the day of Magic Kingdom's sacred, holy, much-touted 50th anniversary. Like a true, proper Disney fan, on this day I left Walt Disney World and I never looked back. I'd always planned to. My first time ever in Magic Kingdom was just a few days earlier, so I had no nostalgia for this particular place which an anniversary could serve, and besides, I truly did fear the crowds. I was inside Disneyland for their 60th (those're my credentials), and that was the most jam-packed I've ever seen a theme park.

I jam-packed up my travel backpack near-to-burstin'. Thinking I overpacked for this trip. I also created a day bag, for there was still plenty to be done before a late afternoon flight out of Orlando.

But first, time for another bland Swan lobby coffee. I must've eaten something too, but goodness knows what. Afterwards, it was clockwork: I checked out, I walked out to my car, and I drove off. Farewell, Disney World! You were at times a super inconvenient, confounding travel destination for someone trained on the other five Disney resorts. Your qualities which are most often celebrated - your vast size, your dozens upon dozens of hotels, the sheer commitment you require - were my least favorite WDW features. I was often overwhelmed; to this day, I feel ill-prepared for WDW. Of course there were very strong positives as well, mostly specific entire parks like Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, and specific attractions in all the parks.

Busch Gardens Tampa, I'll be returning to you!

For now, though, on the sanctified day of the 50th, there was only one Orlando theme park which called my name...

GATORLAND, U.S.A.!

The snappiest place on earth. Voted Orlando's #1 theme park, 1949-1970. This rough 'n' tumble oasis - more a roadside tourist trap than a true & proper theme park - sat far, far from Disney in a forgotten corner of Orlando. Gatorland proved immediately small scale and accessible, a wonderful reprieve from the Mouse regime, with a parking lot scaled for a modest strip mall and a gloriously goofy entrance through the teeth of a great big ol' gator.

And what is the main attraction of Gatorland?

Gators!

Gators as far as the eye can see! Fat gators, skinny gators, gators who climb on rocks!

Gatorland was a saurian paradise! There are reptilian monstrosities by the hundreds, with acre upon acre dedicated to giving these glorious evolutionary throwbacks a good swampy home. It is immediately overwhelming, and it is absolutely enough to cover the course of a few hour visit.

I gather from our resident zoologist @PerGron that Gatorland is a much-respected animal caretaker in their community. This is perhaps the world's premiere gator rescue venue. Gators who cannot for whatever reason make it in the wild all wind up here. They are loved, cared for, and pampered. Behind-the-scenes, I gather that Gatorland is thoroughly professional.

The face they put on, though, their façade for tourists, is rather more homespun, good ol' boy, and downright redneck. There's a tone of folksy whimsy in the park's signage and random details, conjuring up images of toothless yokels with moonshine. The clientele I observed - the other folks who figured on comin' here for the 50th - they fit right in. It was fun stuff, to be sure, with the same sort of independent park go-for-broke iconoclastic oddity which I remember from Knott's Berry Farm before Cedar Fair bought 'em.

Wooden docks lead up and down an array of animal exhibits, not all of 'em gators. For now, these photos are simply from the front of the park. Here I discovered parrots...

...I discovered snakes...

...and I discovered herons (I think), some of them wading dangerously close to the gators silently drifting through the murky waters. The gators paid them no mind.

Y'know, this place seems pleasant. Let's stay here for a while!​

 

[erstwo]

View attachment 606891
Upside down​

I think you fixed it! (Harmonious that is - not the orientation of the photo. ) A little more impressive viewed in this direction.

 

[PiratesMansion]

I genuinely like Gatorland more than about half of the parks in Florida.

 

[MickeyCB]

Fat gators, skinny gators, gators who climb on rocks!

Even gators with chicken pox!

 

[amjt660]

Even gators with chicken pox!

Max

 

[D Hulk]

Gatorland is a great place to explore. It isn't terribly huge, and it's stuffed top to bottom with animal exhibits and esoteric oddities. Man does this place have personality! Why, just beyond the main gator hub, I located my third flamboyance of flamingoes in as many days.

Among them were capybaras.

Beyond "looking at animals," Gatorland also specializes in ziplining. This is an upcharge, kinda like those Fun Spot go-kart tracks, and partly for that reason I didn't try it. I was content to spend my few hours within Gatorland moving as slowly as possible from spot to spot, trying (successfully) not to work up a sweat in my final Floridian day.

I forged my own path counterclockwise through Gatorland, from the shack-like portico at the front, to the swampy explorable wetlands towards the back. Overalled employees were erecting spooky decorations for Halloween. Displays of scarecrows and jack-o-lanterns and skellingtons were...well, not to theme park quality, which isn't Gatorland's bag, but rather they rivalled my more gung-ho neighbors' yards for holiday spirit. Gatorland's overall homespun vibe truly charmed me.

Further back towards the wetlands. Everywhere you look, there's a gator! Gatorland stays on-theme!

An elevated bridge meanders through the vast central swampland which serves as the main gator habitat. No kidding, every time I peeked into the water, I saw gators...and the longer I stared, the more gators I saw, as some would barely surface from beneath the murky waters, or their camouflage became apparent. Watch your step!

The tall, distant lookout towers were the zipline course. Within half an hour, ziplining directly over the gator habitats would commence. The low buzzing swampy ambient noise would be shattered by adventurers overhead.

There are dozens of gators hidden within this vista.

Let's simply soak in this weird, wonderful environment for a while...

 

[D Hulk]

'Twas time for the Gator Jumparoo Show, Gatorland's flagship experience and their answer to SeaWorld's whale shows.

Come, watch fearsome alligators lunge suddenly from the waters to snatch raw chicken from the arms of yokels! As a display of these animals' natural awesomeness, the Jumparoo is a total winner. It's good and interactive too, dividing guests on opposite sides of the gator pit into opposing teams, even letting a few lucky souls wiggle the chicken line and tempt the critters. It sure is a heck of a thing seein' snarling gators devour flesh mere feet from impressionable children.

Like most any animal-based stunt show, there's a fair amount of dead air in between the lunges. There's a lot of setup needed to coax the animals into performing. Gatorland fills that time with a pair of good ol' boy hosts, whose names - best as I can recall - were, no kidding, Skeeter 'n' Cooter. It's sayin' somethin' 'bout Gatorland's aw shucks redneckish attitude that I wasn't fully sure if this was an exaggerated put-upon, or if the park's gator wrasslers are actually like this. Sure was fun though!

Animal shows occurred on a precise schedule, leaving a good half hour or so in between each spectacular. With that time, I once again roamed the wetland back stretch. Buzzards such as the specimen above were a common Gatorland sight; you see 'em from the long drive up, cirlin' the premises like an omen of doom. These are the "thieving birds" described in some of Gatorland's signage, here to scavenge whatever fleshy pulp the gators discard.

Hell, at one point, a murder of hungry vultures swooped in and attacked some vacationers! The tourists tried to escape by climbing a cabin, but the buzzards stripped them clean down to the bone! It was terrifying to witness!

When the time was right, I attended the Gatorland Upclose (sic) Encounters Show. I wasn't able to capture any acceptable pictures of this. The Encounters Show is a lower-key, more intimate sister show to the mighty Jumparoo. You're never more than 20 feet from the beast handlers. These performers followed in Skeeter 'n' Cooter's toothless bumpkin tradition, with a touch of "city boy" thrown in for flavor. Over 20 plus minutes, they paraded out an assortment of invariably deadly tiny monsters, handlin' 'em with their bare hands. This duo delighted in tormenting the nearest guests, handin' 'em locked boxed containing rattlers and such, or placing tarantulas on guests' shoulders when they weren't lookin'. I was fortunate to have a faraway bleacher perch, safe from their shenanigans.

Oddball funny signs like this litter Gatorland's acreage!

Noontime had come and gone, and as 1 o'clock rolled around, my brief time at Gatorland drew to a close. I was hungry - too hungry by far to be satisfied by tourist trap grub - and besides, I had still a few more items on my Orlando agenda before the evening's 6 PM flight back to L.A.

So I bid Gatorland a fond farewell, appreciating the wacky reptile merch in the inevitable gift-shop-as-an-exit. I returned to my rental car, and I progressed north towards central Orlando. I'd gone more than a week of eating almost exclusively on theme park properties. It was time for something completely different.

I drove for half an hour, far north of the big theme park cluster, past downtown Orlando, up to a multicultural pan Asian community. At some point earlier, I'd done some research into Orlando's best restaurants - turns out there's a big locals' scene wholly removed from the touristy stuff! - and using that list at present, I narrowed it down to what intrigued me the most: Makak Asian Street Food.

Aah, dining sans theme! How I'd missed you!

Mamak proved worth the effort. This was the best food of the entire trip. The best meal? That's more complicated, since Disney & Universal specialize in creating zany wraparound experiences to accompany their middling-to-good grub, but when you're simply seeking something tasty, a standalone, independent brick 'n' mortar is nearly always the best option. Without a captive audience, places like Mamak must thrive wholly based on their merits. Delicious!

Mamak's food was so glorious, I mostly forgot to take photos before scarfing it down. Generally, Mamak serves Asian fusion centering around Malaysian street food...an un-turndown-able option. In my various world travels, the best food I have EVER had was Malaysian street food!

At Mamak, I got fried wontons (above), lettuce spring roll wraps, peanut curry chicken skewers, and a Thai iced tea. None of which were all that specifically Malaysian, actually. All were appetizer-sized, letting you nosh piecemeal as you would in a vibrant, sweltering Kuala Lumpur night market. The ambiance was far removed here - far more upscale contemporary here - but the culinary gist was the same.

It was nearing 2 by now as I polished off my final plate. My flight was at 6. Time for one more theme park first, right?!

The route from Mamak to MCO went almost directly past Fun Spot Orlando. This was like coming full circle. The Universal Orlando Resort and even the Endless Summer hotel (where this insanity began) were plainly visible from Fun Spot's parking lot. Why, I never knew!

Time to count some roller coaster credits! This was my whole FSO purpose; just grab a few numbers for my growing list, and be on my merry way. Overall, I didn't spend even a quarter hour at this place, which was fine.

We'll see how that went down next time...in the final post of this Trip Report!​

 

[D Hulk]

Fun Spot Orlando is a no-frills permanent carnival much like its sister park in Kissimmee. There are similar attractions here: A few basic traveling coasters, assorted janky flat rides, go-kart tracks, and a massive upcharge bungee which falsely calls itself a roller coaster. Given its location, it's clear FSO's purpose is to siphon off fun-lovers from Universal and Disney, like the theme park equivalent of an after party. This spot is meant to be seen at nighttime, so I did myself no favors by appearing in midafternoon on my way to the airport.

As with Kissimmee, I purchased ride tokens a-la-carte, based on the operable credits. White Lightning, FSO's signature wooden roller coaster, wouldn't be operating until I was already airborne, which saddened me. Rather, I began with Freedom Flyer.

This is a Vekoma suspended family coaster...crucially, it's the newest model. Vekoma's older installations are derisively known in the enthusiast community as "hang 'n' bangs," for they are as punishingly rough as any coaster you ever did ride. This newer version, though? Smooth as silk! Vekoma has wholly redeemed their image in the past few years - they're now nipping at the heavy hitters like Intamin and B&M! - with vastly improved rides, mostly in Europe. Smoother, higher capacity, all-around better experiences.

While Freedom Flyer proved extremely brief and low-capacity (it can only run a single train), I dare say that with some modifications, this ride model could very well yield this generation's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It has all the characteristics of a perfect family coaster. Besides, Disney and Vekoma are bosom buds.

I passed White Lightning's tracks, which stood there mocking me. A workman was out strolling an airtime hill; I wouldn't be getting this credit. I proceeded on an extremely brief circle tour of Fun Spot, from one extreme edge to the other and back again, taking up all of maybe 4 minutes.

There's a general patriotism theme going on here. Sometimes, they lay it on a little thick.

My final ride of this entire whirlwind Floridian invasion - the grand climax to top off this whole berserk enterprise - was none other than Sea Serpent! This oval county fair model ranks among the least impressive coasters I've conquered. I'm lucky the ride ops let me ride.

And like that, 14 minutes after I'd first parked, I was complete with Fun Spot Orlando! Kissimmee was better. I returned to my rental car and I accessed my day bag. I awkwardly changed outfits in the backseat. I didn't want to fly across the country in a sweaty t-shirt, though switching into khakis inside a sweltering sedan didn't help matters. I also didn't want to be seen mid-change, which I failed at when a pack of feral Orlando children began staring in my direction.

Lest I linger any longer, I drove away fully dressed, screeching down the interstate due east. In as much time as it takes to tour Fun Spot Orlando, I made it back to the rental car agency. I parked my car, deposited my key, and successfully passed a scratch mark inspection.

It took a while longer awaiting the agency's MCO transfer shuttle. I watched other travelers drop off their vehicles, and I marveled at the amount of luggage they had.

Half an hour later, the shuttle deposited me at MCO. Check-in, security, terminal transport, all that went by super smoothly. Airports are boring. This was practically the final step in a long, multi-day comedown from the natural high which was Magic Kingdom.

For as much extra stuff as I packed into my final few hours, the flight still wasn't for a while yet. I meandered aimlessly, marveling out a window which displayed beauty (a rainbow) and ugliness (Spirit Airlines) together in sharp contrast.

Lastly, my final, inauspicious Florida feast was found at a TGI Friday's or something. The photo above totally does this meal justice. It was bad. Hamburger, onion rings, and tap beer, you'd be amazed at how such a simple order can be so blandly executed.

And that's the final image of the trip! There's just the slightest bit more to relay now before we conclude. The plane flight? It wasn't uneventful! We hit a wondrous patch of turbulence somewhere over Louisiana, bad enough that people around me screamed and cried and cursed the heavens for minutes after it concluded. Winds repeatedly sent the plane into a nosedive, then the plane would climb again before another freefall, in a wonderful fusion of positive and negative G-forces. I loved it! (Yeah, I'm crackerjacks. ) I was still in roller coaster mode, so I threw my arms up, I loosened my seatbelt, and I got some astounding ejector airtime. I whooped & hollered. Second best ride of the trip, after Velocicoaster!

Then...LAX. My buddy Manny picked me up at the airport, and he took me to a brewery.

THE END ​

 

[MickeyCB]

Winds repeatedly sent the plane into a nosedive, then the plane would climb again before another freefall, in a wonderful fusion of positive and negative G-forces. I loved it! (Yeah, I'm crackerjacks. ) I was still in roller coaster mode, so I threw my arms up, I loosened my seatbelt, and I got some astounding ejector airtime. I whooped & hollered. Second best ride of the trip, after Velocicoaster!

Absolute best ending you could have written!!
Loved your incredibly detailed TR, thank you so much for sharing!

 

[MickeyWaffleCo.]

 

[erstwo]

Absolute best ending you could have written!!
Loved your incredibly detailed TR, thank you so much for sharing!

Concur in both counts! This has been so fun to read! Thanks for taking the time to add all the photos and type out the report!

 

[Bullseye1967]

View attachment 607381

Fun Spot Orlando is a no-frills permanent carnival much like its sister park in Kissimmee. There are similar attractions here: A few basic traveling coasters, assorted janky flat rides, go-kart tracks, and a massive upcharge bungee which falsely calls itself a roller coaster. Given its location, it's clear FSO's purpose is to siphon off fun-lovers from Universal and Disney, like the theme park equivalent of an after party. This spot is meant to be seen at nighttime, so I did myself no favors by appearing in midafternoon on my way to the airport.

View attachment 607384

As with Kissimmee, I purchased ride tokens a-la-carte, based on the operable credits. White Lightning, FSO's signature wooden roller coaster, wouldn't be operating until I was already airborne, which saddened me. Rather, I began with Freedom Flyer.

View attachment 607385

This is a Vekoma suspended family coaster...crucially, it's the newest model. Vekoma's older installations are derisively known in the enthusiast community as "hang 'n' bangs," for they are as punishingly rough as any coaster you ever did ride. This newer version, though? Smooth as silk! Vekoma has wholly redeemed their image in the past few years - they're now nipping at the heavy hitters like Intamin and B&M! - with vastly improved rides, mostly in Europe. Smoother, higher capacity, all-around better experiences.

While Freedom Flyer proved extremely brief and low-capacity (it can only run a single train), I dare say that with some modifications, this ride model could very well yield this generation's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It has all the characteristics of a perfect family coaster. Besides, Disney and Vekoma are bosom buds.

View attachment 607386

I passed White Lightning's tracks, which stood there mocking me. A workman was out strolling an airtime hill; I wouldn't be getting this credit. I proceeded on an extremely brief circle tour of Fun Spot, from one extreme edge to the other and back again, taking up all of maybe 4 minutes.

View attachment 607387

There's a general patriotism theme going on here. Sometimes, they lay it on a little thick.

View attachment 607388

My final ride of this entire whirlwind Floridian invasion - the grand climax to top off this whole berserk enterprise - was none other than Sea Serpent! This oval county fair model ranks among the least impressive coasters I've conquered. I'm lucky the ride ops let me ride.

View attachment 607389

And like that, 14 minutes after I'd first parked, I was complete with Fun Spot Orlando! Kissimmee was better. I returned to my rental car and I accessed my day bag. I awkwardly changed outfits in the backseat. I didn't want to fly across the country in a sweaty t-shirt, though switching into khakis inside a sweltering sedan didn't help matters. I also didn't want to be seen mid-change, which I failed at when a pack of feral Orlando children began staring in my direction.

Lest I linger any longer, I drove away fully dressed, screeching down the interstate due east. In as much time as it takes to tour Fun Spot Orlando, I made it back to the rental car agency. I parked my car, deposited my key, and successfully passed a scratch mark inspection.

View attachment 607390

It took a while longer awaiting the agency's MCO transfer shuttle. I watched other travelers drop off their vehicles, and I marveled at the amount of luggage they had.

Half an hour later, the shuttle deposited me at MCO. Check-in, security, terminal transport, all that went by super smoothly. Airports are boring. This was practically the final step in a long, multi-day comedown from the natural high which was Magic Kingdom.

View attachment 607391

For as much extra stuff as I packed into my final few hours, the flight still wasn't for a while yet. I meandered aimlessly, marveling out a window which displayed beauty (a rainbow) and ugliness (Spirit Airlines) together in sharp contrast.

View attachment 607392

Lastly, my final, inauspicious Florida feast was found at a TGI Friday's or something. The photo above totally does this meal justice. It was bad. Hamburger, onion rings, and tap beer, you'd be amazed at how such a simple order can be so blandly executed.

And that's the final image of the trip! There's just the slightest bit more to relay now before we conclude. The plane flight? It wasn't uneventful! We hit a wondrous patch of turbulence somewhere over Louisiana, bad enough that people around me screamed and cried and cursed the heavens for minutes after it concluded. Winds repeatedly sent the plane into a nosedive, then the plane would climb again before another freefall, in a wonderful fusion of positive and negative G-forces. I loved it! (Yeah, I'm crackerjacks. ) I was still in roller coaster mode, so I threw my arms up, I loosened my seatbelt, and I got some astounding ejector airtime. I whooped & hollered. Second best ride of the trip, after Velocicoaster!

Then...LAX. My buddy Manny picked me up at the airport, and he took me to a brewery.

THE END ​

Thanks for the wonderfully worded TR!!!!

 

[D Hulk]

Absolute best ending you could have written!!
Loved your incredibly detailed TR, thank you so much for sharing!

Concur in both counts! This has been so fun to read! Thanks for taking the time to add all the photos and type out the report!

Thanks for the wonderfully worded TR!!!!

Thank you all. I'm glad you enjoyed this TR. One final thing now: A personal, extremely subjective ranking of the parks I visited. Enjoy!

1. Universal's Islands of Adventure
2. Magic Kingdom
3. Animal Kingdom
4. Busch Gardens Tampa
5. Universal's Halloween Horror Nights
6. SeaWorld Orlando
7. Disney's Hollywood Studios
8. Universal Studios Florida
9. Fun Spot Kissimmee
10. Gatorland
11. Epcot
12. Fun Spot Orlando