Lau On Tour Day 9: Florida

Part 9 of my new series, Lau On Tour. Catch up with yesterday's destination and find out what the series is all about before you join me in today's destination, Florida.

Image: Gui Avelar/Unsplash

The itinerary

Florida's the theme park capital of the world, so I started my day-long visit with virtual rides on a few of its most famous rollercoasters, several of which are available on the Disney Parks YouTube channel and other places around the internet (top tip - watch them in the dark on full-screen for the most realistic experience).

Things began gently with a turn on It's A Small World, a childhood favourite of, well, every child who ever went to Disney, myself included. The song'll stick with you, as it did for me as I worked my way through Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain and Space Mountain. It's a rather scorching 30+ degrees in Orlando at this time of year, so I headed over to water park Blizzard Beach for a stomach-dropping cool down on Summit Plummet. Finally, I swung by Universal Studios for a ride on Hagrid's Magical Motorbike Adventure, before moving my Florida adventure away from Orlando's theme parks and onto some of the state's other attractions.

I spent some time getting my geek on over at Cape Canaveral, at Kennedy Space Center, AKA Nasa HQ. Again, the visitor centre is somewhere I went as a child (main memory: a crow swooping down and stealing my chips from my hand), but would love to go back. There's a trailer for the visitor experience on Kennedy Space Center YouTube channel, but this unaffiliated, child-friendly Virtual Field Trip gives a bit more information about some of the sights you can see.

Image: Christian Wagner/Unsplash

From Cape Canaveral, I crossed directly across Florida's width to Homosassa Springs on its west coast, where a live webcam shows manatees swimming in the waters. No sign of Lucinda, the melon-eating hippo I saw in the wildlife park when I visited as a child.


With theme parks, science and wildlife all ticked off, I finished up my day the way all days in Florida should be finished - the Happily Ever After Fireworks show, a culmination of lasers, pyrotechnics and music against the backdrop of the famous Cinderella Castle. The only thing missing from my virtual experience was tired but happy kids, worn out by an exhilarating day at the Magic Kingdom, falling asleep in pushchairs and on parents' shoulders, before being shepherded towards the exit and a well-earned night in a hotel bed.

Where I'm staying

Image: Disney

Speaking of hotel beds, it's got to be a Disney hotel when in Florida. I've got fond memories of staying in the All Star Sports Resort as a child, but there are plenty of other options, from safari lodges to luxury Polynesian bungalows. But this time round, I'm opting for the Disney Contemporary Resort, as I remember being wowed by the fact that the Disney monorail ploughs right through the hotel atrium.

In pop culture

While I'm sure many cinematic masterpieces have been set and filmed in the Sunshine State, the one I have to hand - and which, I admit, is a guilty pleasure of mine - is Jaws 3. It takes place in a Florida marine park. Basically, Seaworld. And though the ethics of Seaworld are a divisive topic (watch Blackfish), the film has everything you'd expect from the Jaws franchise. Educational? No. Fun? Absolutely. And a guest appearance by Harry from Casualty to boot. The take their time getting to the shark bit, but that scene of the disfigured head floating past the aquarium window never disappoints.

On the menu

For me, Floridian cuisine is myriad things. It's ice cream at the breakfast buffet of now-defunct restaurant Ponderosa, and it's crunching over a layer of discarded peanut shells on the floor of Lone Star Steakhouse (if you know, you know). It's a burger lunch at a drive-thru Wendy's, then the garlic breadsticks at Olive Garden for dinner, with a Boston Creme chaser from Dunkin' Donuts. It's also the best blueberry muffin I've ever tasted, purchased from a snack cart at Disney's Animal Kingdom, eaten for breakfast beneath the Tree of Life.

Though these are my fondest foodie memories of Florida, they're not your typical Sunshine State staples. And while DisneyWorld cuisine constitutes a food group of its own in this part of the world, with whole blogs and Instagram accounts dedicated to it, I don't think I could replicate my favourite Donald Duck-shaped choc chip cookies to justice.

So I opted for a more widely-known dish, the Key lime pie, so called because the eponymous green fruits are grown in the Florida Keys. I'd never made one before, having been led to believe that it's a tricky one to master, but I've got time on my hands. Following this recipe was surprisingly simple, albeit time consuming due to the various rounds of baking and refrigerating.

Souvenir shopping

Image: Joel Sutherland/Unsplash

It's got to be a pair of Mickey Mouse ears, hasn't it? The sparklier the better, as far as I'm concerned.