Florida: A Land of Childhood Memories

Where are some of the most popular places to spend your spring break for college students in the US? Disney World, FL, always makes it to the list! Disney World is a magical land that both children and grownups can wear those cute headbands without being judged. Indeed, I should have said ‘the magical world’ since this place is colossal. Disney World has every dreamy thing you are looking for, and you can totally own it if you have… money.

Oh, I did not intend to discourage you! You don’t have to have pockets full of money to go there!!

First, I’m just a college student who got a scholarship from the Thai government. My sponsor only pays me at a survival rate, so please bear in mind that if I could make this trip happen, so do you!

So how much do you need? Not much!

I literally spent $700 for two nights in one of the economical Disney resorts, two parks: magic kingdom and Hollywood studios, meals, and, of course, a plane ticket from Maine to Florida. I mean, it could have been cheaper if I didn’t fly delta and didn’t go to two parks!

How was the experience?

To tell you truth, I’ve been to Hong Kong Disneyland before, but this place still amazed me with its variety of rides. It’s so spacious that we got a bit tired since in the morning.

Here are some places in Disney world I’ve been to 📷:)

Disney Spring: This is an outlet in the middle of Disney World. It’s full of well-known brands and restaurants. We did not get much from this place, but just walking around, seeing the lights, and enjoying Disney music were something you should definitely do in Disney world!

Magic kingdom: This is the biggest park of the four and has the most rides amongst them. Most of the rides are fun but not exciting because it’s designed for little kids and their parents. However, riding through the rooms decorated with my childhood favorite characters is so charming and entertaining. I felt like I was ten years younger!

1. Buzz light year🌕🌕🌗
2. Philharmagic (show)🌕🌕🌑
3. Tiki enchanted room (show)🌕🌗🌑
4. It’s small world 🌕🌕🌑
5. Aladdin flying carpet🌕🌗🌑
6. Mad hatter tea cup🌕🌕🌑
7. Monster inc. Laughing floor (show)🌕🌕🌕
8. Pirates of the Caribbean🌕🌕🌕
9. Haunted mansion🌕🌕🌕
10. Splash mountain mania🌕🌕🌗
11. Winnie the pooh🌕🌕🌗
12. Little mermaid ride🌕🌗🌑
13. Festival of Fantasy parade (day parade)🌕🌕🌕
14. Night firework🌕🌕🌕

Hollywood studios: There are several shows presented in this park, as you can guess from its name. But the only two rides we’ve been to are a blast! I love toy story mania because the ride was very new, and the laser gun was very accurate. Tower of Terror is now my all-time favorite ride. It was quite scary to be dropped from the 10th floor, but it was just so awesome after all!

1. The muppet show (show)🌕🌗🌑
2. Dumbo sneak peek (movie)🌕🌗🌑
3. Star tour (show)🌕🌕🌑
4. Little mermaid show (show)🌕🌕🌗
5. Toy story mania 🌕🌕🌕
6. Tower of terror🌕🌕🌕
7. Frozen sing-along (show)🌕🌗🌑
8. Beauty and the beast (show)🌕🌕🌑
9. Indiana Jones show (show)🌕🌕🌕

But how was Florida if not talking about Disney World?

There is much more to do in Florida, and beaches are definitely one of them. After a night in Disney World, my friend and I went to Daytona beach, located on the east coast of Florida. The logistics ridiculously sucked because we took greyhound on a rainy day. The AC was broken, so the driver open the door on the roof, and, yep, the rain came through!

When we arrived at the bus station, it was very dark, but luckily it was not too hard to call uber to our hotel Oceanside Inn. The hotel looked older than what we saw in Agoda, but everything else was fine.

We spend two nights at Daytona beach. The first night was nothing since we arrived late. The next morning, we walk to its downtown. To go downtown, we had to cross the bridge connecting two parts of this area. On the bridge, we could see the beautiful river and parks around it. The town in the morning is much prettier and more welcoming than we saw the previous night. We went to a Thai restaurant named Siam Spice Thai Restaurant and ordered crab fried-rice, tom pho tak (spicy seafood soup), and pad kee mao (Thai spicy stirred fried.) The food tasted much better than that of most restaurants in Maine, which, um, makes sense.

Then, we were wandering around downtown and found an Asian market. We decided to buy some food for the night and for storing at our college. The next store that we went to was fun. It is called Angel & Phelps Chocolate Factory. By the time we arrived, the chocolate factory tour was in progress, so we decided just to watch and buy some to satisfy our tummy. The chocolate was rich and not so sweet, which I liked. If I go to Daytona beach again, I’ll go back to this shop!

We did not find anything else interesting, so we just went back to the hotel. One benefit of staying at this old little hotel was that it is located right at the beach. We spend some time chatting and snacking on the beach, and that was quite a peaceful moment. On the next day, we took a bus back to the airport and flew back to Boston.

To wrap up this trip, Florida is such a fun place for a short trip. Though you don’t have to have lots of money, more money could make the trip more smooth. I’d say the trip taught me to be smart at spending money. By saying ‘smart,’ I meant to save some and spend some on something I can do when I’m young and free.