Orlando, FL - 5/27 - 5/30

The long weekend was spent in the Sunshine State of Florida, with my parents and two friends from the ‘Sahayog’ days. Sahayog, is the housing society where I was born and raised for 23 years, my first and only home in Bombay. My parents are presently visiting from Bombay, R is here in NY on a project from Bombay and A is interning in Orlando, FL with a petroleum company, as part of his MBA internship program. Turns out, as one of those coincidences in my life that have now become regular, that R plans to go to Orlando, FL the same weekend as we are and A has moved there just a week ago for his internship.
Someone up there, loves overlapping schedules and plans them rather well, at that. So, the five of us ended up making memories together, at the Universal Orlando parks. The next day, my parents and I were at DisneyWorld’s Magic Kingdom among famous book-characters, fairies, mice and ducks. The same night, I was in downtown Disney, club-hopping with the guys. A great 3-day weekend, that felt like a vacation! Some highlights:

- The trip to Universal was my second one, the first one having been to the one in LA. Universal Studios, Orlando is much smaller compared to Universal Studios, Studio City, in California, so that was a little disappointing for me, although for the parents, it was a new and thus exhilarating experience. This Universal Studios did not have a studios-and-sets tour, which I really wished they had. Figured, we would have to do Universal, CA sometime again:)
- The highlight of the day was the Shrek 4-D show, which deserves every bit of the hype it has generated. I hadn’t seen it, since Shrek didn’t exist at the time of my first Universal experience. Hollywood reigns over Bollywood, inspite of being the smaller industry, on account of it’s unmatched technical expertise in movie-making, and it’s aplomb in showcasing the movies as experiential shows in such theme parks. A similar Bollywood theme park in Bombay, would make an excellent design dissertation topic for a final year B. Arch student, in Bombay – a mind thought!
- The highlight of the trip was Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, which truly delivers its promise of being the “Happiest Celebration on Earth”. As A later added, Disney ranks number one in customer satisfaction; I now know why. Contrary to what I had imagined, the park refused to bore me and brought out the child in my parents and me, alike. From wild roller-coaster rides to adventure-filled cruises, from Peter-Pan’s Neverland to Mickey’s Philharmagic, from Cinderella’s castle to Tom Sawyer’s half-painted picket fence with “Tom loves Becky” scrawled on it, the park stuns you with it’s magnificence and exactness of the fiction-world you imagined when growing up, in the 80’s.
- Cartoon characters like Mickey and Minnie, Donald and Daisy never grow old-fashioned or out of style; they defy generation gaps. My thrill at hugging Mickey was equal if not more than the 5 year olds’ in line ahead of me.
- Kids cry less, enjoy themselves more, dress way better and have a lot going for them, in this country – Mom’s observation, seconded by me.
- An experience to be re-lived every some-years for sure, just like the trips we make back home, to refresh our minds, make new memories and have pure, unadulterated fun! I must especially mention the sweeping long ride, we waited longest for in line, with Peter Pan, flying over Neverland. Was worth the wait; Actually felt like Neverland.
- Floridian weather is the closest you can get to Bombay’s weather of 15 years ago; comfortably warm, humid and sunny. Seemed like, the weather also played its part in my childhood retrospective.
- Clubbing in Florida, takes on a whole new meaning, unlike other cities in America. A decided that we would go clubbing in Pleasure Island, one of the many ‘suburbs’ of DisneyWorld. Tickets at the gates of Pleasure Island are sold on a per-club or club-hopping basis. Once inside, you have the option of dancing in front of a huge screen on the street or hopping in and out of various clubs scattered all over the Island. This was a whole new scale of club-hopping for me, coming from the familiar tightly packed clubs in Manhattan, each charging $20 (or more) as cover. Felt like we were somewhere between Goa and America, seeing people casually attired for the night, a huge contrast from the impeccably stylish New Yorkers.
- The kind of investment, ideas and technique, that go into the making of theme-parks which are highly experiential in nature, is phenomenal. Be it the drops of water that fall on you everytime Shrek sneezes or the wafts of apple pie that breeze under your nose when Donald Duck bakes one, 4-D visual experiences take you one step closer to “feeling the difference”, what a lot of advertisements brag of. The simulation of the tactile and olfactory senses, in a near 3-dimensional visual experience, drives home the point suitably well, that films are surpassing their basic 2-dimensional domain of celluloid to interact with the viewers. At this rate, there is no stopping what may come our way next, in our visits to theme parks. As Dad casually remarked when we were boarding the elevator to the Astro-Orbiter in the Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrow-land, “Someday we will be taking elevators to board real rockets into space.”
- One moment we were kids in Magic Kingdom, the other we were drinking vodka (that was me), smoking cigars (that was the guys) in Pleasure Island, both parts of DisneyWorld. This is one aspect of the commercialization of America; kids can be grown-ups too!
- One of the most enjoyable drives of my life, ended with several screeches and a big crash when Mom rammed our Indy-race car into the ones ahead. And I thought only I did that, with my Maruti 800 back home:)
- Dad’s initial reactions to roller-coaster rides, convinced me of my observations since years now - Women are more raring to go roller-coastering than men.
- Florida has a very Californian, Texan and Nevada-like feel to it, in its palm landscapes and sunny skies, broad freeways and flat-land, and ugly/ lit-up symbolic signages, respectively. This multiple character makes it a very appealing resort state, on the same coast as NY, which is heartening:)
- Seeing that your Dad still cannot sleep until he hears you sneaking in at night, can be very frustrating and endearing, at the same time.
- Catching up with a friend, till 3 am at night, in a new city, on a hotel bench, felt like being back on a study-trip from architecture days.
- Other pure acts of joy included seeing a thrilled child on a carousel, smiling kids rushing towards Mickey, face-painted angels having the time of their lives, pink-cheeked kids squealing in delight…..and so the list goes on…..
- Family vacations are always sources of pure pleasure. Parents can still say or do things that can surprise us and reveal sides of themselves, we may have never seen before. Possibilities exist of role-reversals and power shifts. At times I was like a single mom with two kids, at others I was the kid with two parents. Eitherways, it was nice!