Fun and Fantasy - this is Florida

Flights from Sao Paolo (Brazil) to Port au Prince (Haiti) all go through Miami (US), so when I planned this trip I thought I'd take the opportunity to spend a few days hanging out with a friend in Florida before continuing the filming. The flight itself wasn't too enjoyable, particularly cos I was still feeling pretty sick, but arriving in Miami lifted my spirits. Even the two hour delay getting through immigration couldn't shake my excitement for the days ahead.

As it was Sunday morning, Benji and I headed straight out to his parents church in Naples. It soon became apparent I had entered another world - not only is the church massive but it is full of famous people, such as Christian authors, film studio executives and Major League Baseball owners. Coming from Sao Paolo the contrast was difficult to get my head around, but I was in a bit of a daze anyway so my brain didn't bother trying to reconcile the two. We checked out the beaches for a while, which are beautiful, and drove past whole suburbs of deserted mansions. Apparently most homes are owned by people who live in the north of America, who stay up north during summer and come down to Florida for the warmer weather during winter. If I ever live in the US I think I will avail these people of my house-sitting services - I would be happy to stay in their New York mansions during winter and their Florida mansions during summer - I would even be prepared to do it for free! After enjoying a great lunch with Benji and his parents, and having quick nap, Benji and I drove up to Mt. Dora, near Orlando, where he lives with his wife.

Benji works part-time at Walt Disney World so one of the things we had planned to do together was spend a day (free passes in hand) at the parks. I surprised myself at how excited I was about doing this, although the Mickey and Minnie toys in my bedroom at Benji's place probably had something to do with it! We woke on Monday morning to be greeted by beautifully clear blue skies and blazing sunshine - there was magic in the air for sure. Benji and I agreed that our primary goal for the day was to ride as many of the big rides as possible, which meant we had to be on our guard against the seductive yet time-consuming little stalls and Disney characters that populated the streets and paths. It's not that I didn't want my photo taken with Mickey or Donald (I mean, you're never too old for that!), it was just that we only had one day and so wanted to fit in as much as possible in it.

The first park we went to was Epcot, where our targets were the Soarin', Test Track and Mission:Space rides. Having travelled to every continent in the past six months, I figured I could miss the World Showcase. At Soarin' we encountered the longest line we would be in all day - 45 minutes - but the ride itself was pretty fun. It's a gentle IMAX-type ride over California, with pretty clever sounds, sights and smells included. After Soarin' we went to Test Track, where we walked straight on courtesy of the single-rider line. Test Track is modelled on a General Motors (Holden) testing facility, with weather, cornering, suspension, crash and speed tests. Despite being a bit too old (a couple of years at least) to believe we were actually going to hit the crash barrier before it opened, it was a pretty fun ride, particularly the speed test. Next up was Mission:Space, which was probably one of the best rides of the day. Apparently a few people died on the ride so they introduced two versions of it - one with G forces (spinning) and one without. Benji and I obviously went on the one with spinning and it didn't disappoint. The shuttle take-off was intense and even thought the "mission" was a bit cheesy it was still fun getting tossed around in the spacecraft. That done, we hopped back in the car and headed for the Animal Kingdom.

Arriving in "Africa" at the Animal Kingdom had added authenticity because we got there around 11am and it was already a seriously hot day by then. Encountering a gardeners snake on the path had the same effect, and it was quite comical watching Disney staff trying to recapture the glorified piece of string. Our first ride was the Kilimanjaro Safari, where the many interesting animals on display weren't sufficient to make up for the 40-minute wait in stifling heat and the comical "poachers" storyline throughout. I should add that I'm not much of an animal person in general. Next up was Everest, which is a good old-fashioned rollercoaster-through-a-mountain complete with scary Yeti. Good times. Our final ride in the Animal Kingdom was Dinosaur, where you journey through time to just before the asteroids hit earth and kill all the dinosaurs. This, along with the "Tree of Life" in the middle of the park, made me wonder why the Religious Right in America hadn't got the Animal Kingdom shut down, but maybe even they are not immune to the Disney magic.

Our third park of the day was Hollywood Studios, home of a wide variety of stunt shows, backlot tours and stage shows. I love hollywood so I could've spent a whole day just at this park, but we stuck to the plan and focused our attention on the big rides - Tower of Terror and Aerosmith's Rock 'n' Rollercoaster. We scored Fast Pass's to the Tower of Terror, so we went straight in and quickly enjoyed getting tossed up and down an elevator shaft. The Rock 'n' Rollercoaster was one of the best rides of the day, mainly because it goes very fast and Benji and I scored the front row. As we were walking out of the park we stumbled upon a block party, which was a lot of fun as all the famous characters from recent Disney movies came out to sing and dance on brightly coloured floats. The kids loved it... and I did too :)

It was only the middle of the afternoon and we were already on our way to the final park - Magic Kingdom. Magic Kingdom is the quintessential Disney park, with Cinderella's Castle taking centre stage, surrounded by a smorgasbord of Disney favourites. It was also quite a productive time for Benji and I when it came to rides - Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain were all hits; Mickey's Philharmagic and the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor were good fun; Haunted Mansion was suitably strange; "It's a Small World" got annoying but it would be a travesty to go to Disney World and not do it; and the only real disappointment was Pirates of the Caribbean, which was truly awful. Actually, there was another disappointment - I wanted to go to the "Princess Parade" (Snow White, Cinderella etc.) but Benji wouldn't let me. Apparently I would be only one over 10 there. Anyway, we got ice creams and all was well again with the world. Our progress was delayed a bit as a summer storm came and went in the space of an hour, but even so we were heading home before darkness set in.

Disney World truly is a phenomenal place. Some people spend a whole week there, so the fact we did all four parks and 16 attractions in one day is pretty remarkable. Disney World is pure fantasy from start to finish. It's not a case of being a kid again either: it's a reminder that those characteristics usually associated with childhood - wonder, imagination, delight - never actually leave us. The only difference is we don't get to express them as much the older we get. Walt Disney was always about more than just escapism though. At the opening of the Epcot Centre in 1982 the CEO of Disney, E. Cardon Walker, said:

"May EPCOT Center entertain, inform and inspire and above all, may it instill a new sense of belief and pride in man's ability to shape a world that offers hope to people everywhere in the world."

It's a noble aim and you can't help but feel a wave of joy and hope wash over you as you spend time at Disney park's, but in the end there's only so much a theme park can do to change the world. Whatever hope it may offer is only fleeting and superficial. The It's a Small World attraction probably provides the best example of this - it's designed to bring the world closer and the people of the world together, but space only allows the most simple of stereotypes to be shown (the Australia exhibit was a curly haired Aboriginal boy waving a boomerang at a kangaroo). Ultimately Disney World provides few answers and does little (I think) to instill a new sense of belief in humanity's ability to create a new and improved world. What it does do though, in my opinion, is stir up the desire for such a world, and in the end maybe it's not our ability but rather our inclination that needs the most help.

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