I was bitten by the Florida bug (not literally!) on my first trip in 1995 at the age of 16. A ‘Once in a Lifetime’ holiday with my family and three other families. Having always been a Disney fan it was a place of dreams for me and i couldn’t actually believe i was going. But go we certainly did (even though I had been diagnosed with Glandular Fever 3 days before we left!! Parents not too chuffed but didn’t spoil a thing!)
The first lasting memory I have is of the villas we stayed in. In the residential estate of Lindfields (ironic really as we lived, and still do, in the village of Lindfield in West Sussex) we had two villas at opposite ends of one of the many beautifully kept streets. One for all the parents, and one for all the kids. I remember thinking this was very brave and trusting of our parents but we were all good kids ranging in age from 15 to 18 so it worked out a treat. Our Villa was huge and I had never seen an open plan living area before but fell in love with the style instantly! It really was a different world. This style was magnified in the villa the parents shared with an open balcony over looking the open plan lounge/dining room/kitchen. I still remember it to this day. The pool at this villa was gorgeous with foliage around one side which made it feel all the more tropical. I remember thinking that this would be a place that I would compare all places against from that moment on.
Only being 16 at the time I don’t remember everything we did or everywhere we went but I have certain clear memories. Walking through the gates of Magic Kingdom and realising that I was actually in Walt Disney World in Florida. If you haven’t done it before, it is the knot of excitiement in your stomach that won’t go for at least 6 hours!!! I remember going on the Tower of Terror twice in a row, going on Splash Mountain, going on Space Mountain, going to Pleasure Island in Downtown Disney. We did everything.
The second half of the holiday we went to Key West and then to Naples which couldn’t have been more of a contrast to Orlando. I don’t remember much of Naples (except stunning beaches and another stunning villa) but I do remember Key West. It seemed so old world and quiet and tropical and lush. Just as an amazing place to be as Disney but oh so different. We stayed in a resort hotel and I remember having breakfast by the pool then walking 100 yards to the beach. Pure bliss. Huge Pelicans standing on the beach not caring about the people at all!!
Having been to Florida that first time I knew that it could not be a ‘Once in a Lifetime’ holiday for me. I had to go back and to date i have been back 4 times. Each trip at a different stage of my life. With my boyfriend and his family, with my boyfriend and friends (during Hurricane Floyd!) when my boyfriend proposed on Cocoa Beach, on our Honeymoon (over there during the 9/11 attacks) and with my husband, our 2 year old son, my in-laws and 6 months pregnant with our second son. You could say that Florida has some sort of hold over me or that I love feeling that excitement like being a kid again but whatever it is, when I get off the plane at Sanford airport, I feel like I have come home. I know I will go back many more times because Florida really is so much more than the sunshine state to me.
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