The Magic Kingdom? Orlando is Now a Sprawling Empire of Fantasy

There are two types of people in this world: those who like theme parks and those who do not. Like most writers, I am aloof, boring and cynical and fit squarely into the second category. When I first was assigned a column about Orlando, I admit I had some doubts. 

I suppose one could always talk about the bird sanctuaries in central Florida or swimming with manatees, not to mention Cape Canaveral, which is essentially a big, government-run theme park for geeks. I absolutely love Cape Canaveral and swimming with manatees, but if a family is flying to Orlando they are doing so for a reason, and that reason more often than not is to have some magical fun. So why ignore the big white elephant in the room?  Disney World must offer something besides a photo op with Mickey. 

Disney World, what’s that? Mickey, who’s he? It turns out that the Magic Kingdom has become almost a minor principality these days in a massive empire of make-believe, where movie buffs can pretend to waltz with Leonardo di Caprio or Kate Winslet aboard a sinking Titanic; where the literati can summon the power of the Black Stallion at the Arabian Nights dinner theater; and where the sons of Pullman porters and the sons of engineers can admire their daddy’s magic carpet made of steel: a ridiculously large train set – basically the world in miniature -- where steam engines pull fourteen cars past houses, farms and fields. 

Those are just a few examples; “Titanic: the Experience,” “Arabian Nights Dinner Theater” and “Train Land International,” respectively. 

The obvious principle behind these parks -- the EPCOT Center was the first shining example -- is to bring people to a place that they otherwise would never be able to visit, either because they can’t afford that kind of travel, or because the experience disappeared centuries ago, or it never existed in the first place. Like a successful strand of DNA, that principle has replicated itself in the form of dozens of virtual travel experiences all over Orlando, where all the menus are in English and the showers have excellent water pressure. 

Don’t see yourself visiting the Middle East too soon? For $29, you can step inside The Holy Land Experience, just down the street from Disney World. 

Marvin Rosenthal, a Jew who converted to Christianity, came up with this idea as a way to bring Herod’s Jerusalem to those curious to see how Jesus lived. High priests dressed in period costume explain the stages along the Via Dolorossa, and you can step inside the great temple for a truly Biblical experience. 

Real travel buffs probably would prefer the real thing in Israel to a replica in Orlando, but there are very few places in this world where a history buff can go to see, for example, a genuine World War I fighter plane take off from a runway. I mean, where can you witness something like that? 

“Fantasy of Flight” has a collection of WWII bombers and a few planes from WWI, and a different one takes off for a flight every day. You can also perform a simulated bombing run on a real B-17 Flying Fortress, retrofitted with virtual reality gear for the experience. 

Or maybe you’d prefer to fly something newer, something a little flashier with a few more bells and whistles, something like, maybe, a space shuttle? Starting in May, the Kennedy Space Center will cut the ribbon on its New Shuttle Launch Experience, a realistic simulated space flight that will be part of every tour. Unfortunately, there are no real launches planned between now and June – on the 28th the shuttle Endeavor returns to the space station to perform some remodeling. 

I can remember when my father took me to Cape Canaveral back in the 80s. I still have the pictures of a nerdy little me in a white turtleneck tucked into stiff blue jeans, holding a plastic model of the first space shuttle, which I saw launched on that clear winter day, and I think I can remember briefly wanting to be an astronaut. 

That’s the power of virtual reality, and I’m sure there’s a WWII fighter pilot, a train conductor, a Pharisee, a princess, a dolphin trainer or a jungle explorer in all of us, and what’s the harm in living out those fantasies if only for a single weekend in Florida?
 

John Moretti is a freelance travel writer who divides his time between Europe, Florida and Vermont. He is the author of "Living Abroad in Italy" (Avalon, 2004) as well as a number of guidebooks. He writes about European sports and culture for the New York Sun.

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