It’s interesting to have lived in Oklahoma and to have made a drastic move to Orlando, Florida. For vacations, families would go to the coasts for the beaches or they would head to Florida for Disney World or Universal Studios. In 2004, my grandmother took my dad, brother, sister, and I all to Disney World and we were there for about a week being tourists.
Living in Orlando and having an annual pass for Universal Studios allows me to go into the parks at any given day that I desire for a whole year, which is very nice. I have already gone so many times that the annual pass already outpaid itself and I am practically stealing from them, if you think of it that way.
My friends and I took a day that we only had 4 hours of class and we went to Universal to have fun and enjoy the nice weather. My friend had a “Premium Pass” that allowed us Valet Parking, which was a first time experience for me, and we spent a couple hours at the parks. Having the passes is such a convenience, mostly because it gives me the mindset that I don’t have to rush to do everything in one small day, that I have a whole year to experience everything multiple times.
Having the advantage of living not but five minutes away from Universal is also great because it gives me the chance to go to the parks when tourists are not around, which usually seems to be during weekdays and under dull weather conditions. I can also walk the pavement of Universal and take mention to tourists and how many of them there are. I get to watch kids misbehave and be scolded by their parents, and I also get to see kids scream for joy.
The city of Orlando has so many tourist hot spots, it’s no wonder why stores ask you if you’re vacationing and where you’re from when you enter the check-out line of stores. I will hear more languages spoken in one day than I have in all my lifetime down here, as well as out of state license plates are normal. I even have an out of state license plate, Oklahoma, which doesn’t help because in traffic people think I am a tourist.
All in all, it’s quite a change to come from a state that no one desires to go to for vacation, to a very prosperous city that is filled with a multitude of tourist spots ranging from beaches, cruises, malls, and amusement parks. Culturally, it is so diverse because of all the people coming in and out for vacation. It is interesting to watch the tourists and how the act and interact with people and one another, especially the tourists from another country.
There is no real specific subject motive for this blog, just being compelled to write about tourists because I see them a lot around here. Below are some images of my last visit to Universal.
