Chapter 1
Road Trip
There's nothing like a good-old-fashioned family road trip. Planning every stop, booking your hotels in advance, packing the car, and setting off first thing in the morning. Unlike directly flying to your destination, driving affords you the opportunity to stop when you please and "smell the roses." Stopping at places of interest to and from your destination is half the fun. The road trip also gives you the chance to make improvised stops; like when you see something that catches your eye or interest.
On past road trips, we've inadvertently run into famous restaurants, a 1,000-foot-deep gorge the Wallenda Brothers once crossed, the first Masonic Lodge in the U.S., and even traveled through the Great Smoky Mountains in the Winter, unexpectedly. Our G.P.S. was set to the "shortest route" instead of the "quickest." So, instead of taking I-75 from Stone Mountain, Georgia, we took 441 through the mountains to Gatlinburg. Considering we are used to driving on flat Florida roads, going up 5,000 feet on a mountain, with snow on the side of the road, was not in our plans and certainly not what my terrified wife, Jennifer, was expecting.
Jennifer, Sally, our daughter, and I have taken several long road trip vacations together. Two of them lasted seventeen days, each with stays at seven different hotels. Planning a trip from Orlando to New York City, with stops to see other places along the way, was no easy task. And unpacking and packing the car at each hotel was no fun either. The only respite we got was when we stayed at a hotel for four or more nights. Then we could really rest awhile and grow some temporary roots. Traveling to unfamiliar places is fun and exciting, so is staying at a hotel/resort we haven't stayed at yet. As we head out on the road tomorrow morning to the World of Entopia, or WOE for short, we will be staying at a few hotels along the way for a night each. But the hotel we're really looking forward to staying at is the World of Entopia’s Family Hotel.
Monday, at 6 a.m.
Finally, we are off to our two-week stay at the World of Entopia. Jennifer and Sally are still sleepy but excited, nonetheless. They both slept decently last night, but as usual, I got about two hours sleep. That's because I'm up trying to make sure we have everything packed that I think we’ll need, and the house is taken care of. I try to clean as much as possible, so the house looks better when we get back home.
I always love when we first drive away from home, starting to put that distance between me and my problems – bills, chores, commitments, and others I'm glad to leave behind for a while. I feel like the farther I get, the further behind they all are. Now it's just me, my family, and fun; the way it should be.
Naturally and like clockwork, within an hour and a half, we must pull over for a bathroom break and fast food, because Jennifer and Sally never eat any of the food I bring with us from home to save money (or diet). Nope, once we start our "vacay," McDonald's or other fast food it is, and there goes the diet and my good intentions of staying on it. I have struggled with my weight for years and I always swear I won't "pig-out" when we go on vacation. However, I seem to leave my good intentions back home with the rest of my problems. I guess eating is always a part of the vacation experience. But when you are struggling to lose weight, you tend to beat yourself up and feel guilty for so many "pig-outs" that tend to happen on vacation.
Our road trips do tend to take us a little longer to travel than most families because we stop every couple of hours to stretch our legs and hit the bathroom. Although road trips have many advantages, they also have the drawback of long, see-nothing roads and traffic. The stops break up the monotony of the long eight to ten-hour drives. Sally, being fourteen, hardly ever gets out when we stop. Once she has a good movie going, she is set.
Around six that evening, we pull into our first hotel for the night. Tired of driving and being in the car so long, we spend the first few minutes walking around stiff. We check-in at the front desk and as always, hope the price they are going to charge us matches the reservation. We get our room keys and head off to see what our room looks like. Usually, Sally gets the honors of being the first to open the door. Once opened, we walk in and take it all in. Most of the time, you smell the cleaning solution fragrance and hopefully like what the room looks like. Jennifer checks the cleanliness of the room and bathroom. I usually check the window for the view and Sally plops down on her bed and plays on her phone. When Sally was younger, Jenifer would send both of us to the pool, so she could unpack and rest for a while.
Most of the hotels we stay at, at least when it's only for one or two nights, are usually in the $65 to $75 range. And most of these are chain hotels that provide a decent amount of cleanliness with the expectation that the bedspread and carpet are dirty. We usually throw the bedspread on the floor and Jennifer will wear flip-flops, so her feet don't get dirty. We also wipe down the phone, remote control, and anything else that may harbor germs with disinfectant wipes.
We rested for a while then went to get some food. We stopped at a national chain pizza buffet with cheap prices and even cheaper quality food. The kind of place where you know the quality of food is subpar, but you don't care, because it's cheap and all-you-can-eat. Later, Sally and I went swimming and then we all went to bed early due to our long day.
Tuesday morning
We woke up around 8 a.m. and slowly shuffled to the complimentary continental breakfast buffet downstairs. Another cup of coffee and we were on our way. Throughout the day, I just spent time thinking about all the places we have been on past vacations and the places I have visited personally. Most of what came to mind were the theme and amusement parks. I thought of the crowds, the heat, rain, long lines, and unreasonable prices. Jennifer always calls me a cheapskate, but I like to think of myself as thrifty. Like most people, I'm really not a big fan of spending eight dollars on a hot dog or ten for a cheeseburger and fries. Tack on another three dollars for a drink, and that's $15 with tax. I understand why they charge you so much at theme parks, amusement parks, concerts, zoos, and even festivals, profit. After all, they won't let (or discourage) you from bringing your own food or drink in, so they can sell you theirs. The one question I always ask is: "Why so much?" If the store on the corner can sell a drink for $1.45 and make a decent profit, why does the entertainment venue need to charge three times that amount? You know they buy in bulk, so they can probably buy it cheaper than the store.
For stadiums, most of the vendors are run by one company. They pay part of their profits to the volunteers who work the booths for them and part to the team owners who run the stadium. The rest they put in their pockets as profit. So no, I don't like shelling out $27 to park my car, paying exorbitant prices for food and drink and the wait in long lines, while the "line cutters" that spend an additional amount, walk right in front of everyone to ride the ride. You could say that all the excessive costs and fees don't bother everyone. Sure, if you have the money, then it won't bother you as much as someone who doesn't. Standing in line for hours, in the heat, so your kid can ride a ride or meet a character, can be absolute torture.
That's what I love about the World of Entopia, the completely enclosed theme park/entertainment complex, we’re heading to. The number of people visiting each day is limited, and reservations for attractions and shows are made in advance. The prices are very reasonable and affordable for almost everyone. You can buy a yearly membership for $100 for the family, for up to 6 people. $25 for each person after that. That membership gives you half off your admission and concert tickets, and reduced hotel rates. The WOE membership provides you with even more, which I'll explain in more detail later.
WOE does make a profit, however, for it needs to reinvest that money to build new rides, attractions, hotels, provide the best entertainment in the world, and invest in the local community. On the other hand, it doesn't need to make a substantial profit because it doesn't have the significant costs and payroll others have. There's no need to charge unreasonable prices, for they also don't have shareholders and don't pay their top brass millions of dollars a year in salary.
There are so many benefits and differences between the World of Entopia and other theme and amusement parks and venues. My last four visits were remarkable, now I can't wait to really spend time there and experience everything they have to offer, learn what makes them tick, and enjoy the quality family time that is very much needed. What I didn't know at the time, was there was so much more to come!
Who I am
My name is Peter Spout. I am a fifty-year-old internet blogger, married to my beautiful wife of twenty-five years, Jennifer. We both created a talented and beautiful daughter named Sally, who is a fourteen-year-old freshman cheerleader.
We live in Orlando, Florida, the theme park capital of the world. Jennifer has been a second-grade teacher at a private Catholic school for the past twenty-five years and really enjoys her calling. I say calling because the pay is lower than public schools and the hours and responsibilities are long and great. But she enjoys the kids nevertheless.
In the past, I have been a computer operations supervisor for an online e-tailer, and I was once a retail store business owner. Although I had a lot of clever ideas on what to sell and how to run my store, I wasn't very good at keeping up with the accounting end of the business. I didn't concentrate on the products that were making me the most profit, nor did I know what the "not so hot" merchandise was costing me just sitting on the shelf or selling at too low of a profit.
I tried switching my brick-and-mortar store to a theater/retail store at a very popular tourist destination, on the beaches. The theater was a dream of mine for years. Unfortunately, I ran into miscommunication issues with the city and then zoning ordinance problems. After only being open a few weeks, I had to shut down.
I tried working from home, selling flashing, party lights and disco lights, that I had in inventory, online. But with the 2008 Great Recession kicking in, I went under financially. Few had money to buy things they didn’t need. In hindsight, I consider my lack of accounting of my business like a boat captain piloting a boat without navigation. You're just cruising along, not knowing where you're going and eventually, you're going to crash into some land or rocks.
My family and I have always loved going to theme parks and visiting other cities and consider them a nice escape from reality. We've traveled to New York City, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Williamsburg, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Myrtle Beach and other places.
Over the years, I've written about our journeys and about the theme and amusement parks we've visited. I create videos for YouTube and write a separate vlog about the park experiences.
There were a few years that I didn't make any money after my business closed and we went further into debt. After all, not many companies were hiring during the Great Recession, and we went to the theme parks more to escape and unwind. My eyesight, which wasn't very good as a teenager, became worse, thus eliminating many job opportunities.
But enough people started following my blogs and watching my YouTube videos that my hobby became my new job. I started setting out to visit more and more theme parks, amusement parks, concert venues, and other entertainment spots to review and compare to others.
For the World of Entopia’s tenth anniversary, several members from the social media world, including myself, have been given exclusive access to go behind the scenes of this magnificent place and interview some of the key people involved in making everything so wonderful, including Steven C.; the creative mind and founder of the World of Entopia (WOE). We were encouraged to bring our families and to enjoy a great family vacation, as well.
I've made the 900-mile trip to the World of Entopia four times in the last ten years. Mostly with my family and usually just for a weekend visit. We rent a room at a low-cost hotel a mile away.
Over the past thirty years, I've visited many places and can tell you with all honesty, there is one central reoccurring theme; they all want to make a nice profit. For many, it's not just a profit to keep reinvesting and remain relevant in the industry, but the greedy profit that makes shareholders happy and entertainers wealthy. No matter if it's a singer on stage making sixty-million on their tour, to the ticketing companies charging fourteen-dollars in fees for a twenty-dollar ticket, to C.E.O.'s making millions of dollars in salary and benefits; it's all about profit and greed. To me, selfish humans are the main reason life isn't fair for most.
Sure, they'll tell you their number one responsibility is guest satisfaction or guest safety (especially when a riders get stuck on a roller coaster for hours), but they might as well say their motto, goal or mission statement is "Profit before anything else, period."
And it shows. It's evident in the people they hire, the service you receive, and the prices they charge. This applies to other industries as well, not just entertainment. For instance, in the service industry, if you go to a restaurant and get a waitress who is overworked or is in a bad mood, she can ruin even a great and well-prepared meal. In the entertainment industry, employees are the most valuable assets, that can make or break your experience. If you go to a theme park and run into an employee who is overworked or is in a bad mood, they can ruin what should be a great visit.
Many of these people are paid close to minimum wage, and most are part-time with very few benefits. If a ride breaks down, you will be disappointed, but know you will probably be able to ride it again soon. If an employee breaks down, your whole experience could be ruined.
For the employee, it may be a part-time job while attending school, to help pay for living expenses. They know the job is only temporary and being fired won't be the last job they'll ever have.
Even if the employees are well trained and love their jobs, major theme parks can still disappoint you with unreasonable prices and long lines. Have more cash to spend? Then you can buy a "line-cutter pass" at most theme or amusement parks.
Now your two-hour wait for a popular ride can be made even more pleasant by watching others saunter up to the front of the line and riding before you with little to no wait. Never mind the $65 plus you paid to be there. Apparently, that's not enough for the operators. Why do the parks do this? Why does anyone offer V.I.P.? Greedy profit. That's why!
But enough of the negative talk of greed in the entertainment industry. They do provide much to enjoy and much to experience. You will need, however, money and patience to enjoy it all.
You may not ever be able to appreciate having a "line-cutter pass" or a V.I.P. front row seat or be able to afford to dine in a fine restaurant in your lifetime. Unless you visit the World of Entopia. Here, everything you hate about what I just mentioned is nonexistent, and everything you love about the theme and amusement parks, concerts, shows, and restaurants is really, truly here.
Road Trip
There's nothing like a good-old-fashioned family road trip. Planning every stop, booking your hotels in advance, packing the car, and setting off first thing in the morning. Unlike directly flying to your destination, driving affords you the opportunity to stop when you please and "smell the roses." Stopping at places of interest to and from your destination is half the fun. The road trip also gives you the chance to make improvised stops; like when you see something that catches your eye or interest.
On past road trips, we've inadvertently run into famous restaurants, a 1,000-foot-deep gorge the Wallenda Brothers once crossed, the first Masonic Lodge in the U.S., and even traveled through the Great Smoky Mountains in the Winter, unexpectedly. Our G.P.S. was set to the "shortest route" instead of the "quickest." So, instead of taking I-75 from Stone Mountain, Georgia, we took 441 through the mountains to Gatlinburg. Considering we are used to driving on flat Florida roads, going up 5,000 feet on a mountain, with snow on the side of the road, was not in our plans and certainly not what my terrified wife, Jennifer, was expecting.
Jennifer, Sally, our daughter, and I have taken several long road trip vacations together. Two of them lasted seventeen days, each with stays at seven different hotels. Planning a trip from Orlando to New York City, with stops to see other places along the way, was no easy task. And unpacking and packing the car at each hotel was no fun either. The only respite we got was when we stayed at a hotel for four or more nights. Then we could really rest awhile and grow some temporary roots. Traveling to unfamiliar places is fun and exciting, so is staying at a hotel/resort we haven't stayed at yet. As we head out on the road tomorrow morning to the World of Entopia, or WOE for short, we will be staying at a few hotels along the way for a night each. But the hotel we're really looking forward to staying at is the World of Entopia’s Family Hotel.
Monday, at 6 a.m.
Finally, we are off to our two-week stay at the World of Entopia. Jennifer and Sally are still sleepy but excited, nonetheless. They both slept decently last night, but as usual, I got about two hours sleep. That's because I'm up trying to make sure we have everything packed that I think we’ll need, and the house is taken care of. I try to clean as much as possible, so the house looks better when we get back home.
I always love when we first drive away from home, starting to put that distance between me and my problems – bills, chores, commitments, and others I'm glad to leave behind for a while. I feel like the farther I get, the further behind they all are. Now it's just me, my family, and fun; the way it should be.
Naturally and like clockwork, within an hour and a half, we must pull over for a bathroom break and fast food, because Jennifer and Sally never eat any of the food I bring with us from home to save money (or diet). Nope, once we start our "vacay," McDonald's or other fast food it is, and there goes the diet and my good intentions of staying on it. I have struggled with my weight for years and I always swear I won't "pig-out" when we go on vacation. However, I seem to leave my good intentions back home with the rest of my problems. I guess eating is always a part of the vacation experience. But when you are struggling to lose weight, you tend to beat yourself up and feel guilty for so many "pig-outs" that tend to happen on vacation.
Our road trips do tend to take us a little longer to travel than most families because we stop every couple of hours to stretch our legs and hit the bathroom. Although road trips have many advantages, they also have the drawback of long, see-nothing roads and traffic. The stops break up the monotony of the long eight to ten-hour drives. Sally, being fourteen, hardly ever gets out when we stop. Once she has a good movie going, she is set.
Around six that evening, we pull into our first hotel for the night. Tired of driving and being in the car so long, we spend the first few minutes walking around stiff. We check-in at the front desk and as always, hope the price they are going to charge us matches the reservation. We get our room keys and head off to see what our room looks like. Usually, Sally gets the honors of being the first to open the door. Once opened, we walk in and take it all in. Most of the time, you smell the cleaning solution fragrance and hopefully like what the room looks like. Jennifer checks the cleanliness of the room and bathroom. I usually check the window for the view and Sally plops down on her bed and plays on her phone. When Sally was younger, Jenifer would send both of us to the pool, so she could unpack and rest for a while.
Most of the hotels we stay at, at least when it's only for one or two nights, are usually in the $65 to $75 range. And most of these are chain hotels that provide a decent amount of cleanliness with the expectation that the bedspread and carpet are dirty. We usually throw the bedspread on the floor and Jennifer will wear flip-flops, so her feet don't get dirty. We also wipe down the phone, remote control, and anything else that may harbor germs with disinfectant wipes.
We rested for a while then went to get some food. We stopped at a national chain pizza buffet with cheap prices and even cheaper quality food. The kind of place where you know the quality of food is subpar, but you don't care, because it's cheap and all-you-can-eat. Later, Sally and I went swimming and then we all went to bed early due to our long day.
Tuesday morning
We woke up around 8 a.m. and slowly shuffled to the complimentary continental breakfast buffet downstairs. Another cup of coffee and we were on our way. Throughout the day, I just spent time thinking about all the places we have been on past vacations and the places I have visited personally. Most of what came to mind were the theme and amusement parks. I thought of the crowds, the heat, rain, long lines, and unreasonable prices. Jennifer always calls me a cheapskate, but I like to think of myself as thrifty. Like most people, I'm really not a big fan of spending eight dollars on a hot dog or ten for a cheeseburger and fries. Tack on another three dollars for a drink, and that's $15 with tax. I understand why they charge you so much at theme parks, amusement parks, concerts, zoos, and even festivals, profit. After all, they won't let (or discourage) you from bringing your own food or drink in, so they can sell you theirs. The one question I always ask is: "Why so much?" If the store on the corner can sell a drink for $1.45 and make a decent profit, why does the entertainment venue need to charge three times that amount? You know they buy in bulk, so they can probably buy it cheaper than the store.
For stadiums, most of the vendors are run by one company. They pay part of their profits to the volunteers who work the booths for them and part to the team owners who run the stadium. The rest they put in their pockets as profit. So no, I don't like shelling out $27 to park my car, paying exorbitant prices for food and drink and the wait in long lines, while the "line cutters" that spend an additional amount, walk right in front of everyone to ride the ride. You could say that all the excessive costs and fees don't bother everyone. Sure, if you have the money, then it won't bother you as much as someone who doesn't. Standing in line for hours, in the heat, so your kid can ride a ride or meet a character, can be absolute torture.
That's what I love about the World of Entopia, the completely enclosed theme park/entertainment complex, we’re heading to. The number of people visiting each day is limited, and reservations for attractions and shows are made in advance. The prices are very reasonable and affordable for almost everyone. You can buy a yearly membership for $100 for the family, for up to 6 people. $25 for each person after that. That membership gives you half off your admission and concert tickets, and reduced hotel rates. The WOE membership provides you with even more, which I'll explain in more detail later.
WOE does make a profit, however, for it needs to reinvest that money to build new rides, attractions, hotels, provide the best entertainment in the world, and invest in the local community. On the other hand, it doesn't need to make a substantial profit because it doesn't have the significant costs and payroll others have. There's no need to charge unreasonable prices, for they also don't have shareholders and don't pay their top brass millions of dollars a year in salary.
There are so many benefits and differences between the World of Entopia and other theme and amusement parks and venues. My last four visits were remarkable, now I can't wait to really spend time there and experience everything they have to offer, learn what makes them tick, and enjoy the quality family time that is very much needed. What I didn't know at the time, was there was so much more to come!
Who I am
My name is Peter Spout. I am a fifty-year-old internet blogger, married to my beautiful wife of twenty-five years, Jennifer. We both created a talented and beautiful daughter named Sally, who is a fourteen-year-old freshman cheerleader.
We live in Orlando, Florida, the theme park capital of the world. Jennifer has been a second-grade teacher at a private Catholic school for the past twenty-five years and really enjoys her calling. I say calling because the pay is lower than public schools and the hours and responsibilities are long and great. But she enjoys the kids nevertheless.
In the past, I have been a computer operations supervisor for an online e-tailer, and I was once a retail store business owner. Although I had a lot of clever ideas on what to sell and how to run my store, I wasn't very good at keeping up with the accounting end of the business. I didn't concentrate on the products that were making me the most profit, nor did I know what the "not so hot" merchandise was costing me just sitting on the shelf or selling at too low of a profit.
I tried switching my brick-and-mortar store to a theater/retail store at a very popular tourist destination, on the beaches. The theater was a dream of mine for years. Unfortunately, I ran into miscommunication issues with the city and then zoning ordinance problems. After only being open a few weeks, I had to shut down.
I tried working from home, selling flashing, party lights and disco lights, that I had in inventory, online. But with the 2008 Great Recession kicking in, I went under financially. Few had money to buy things they didn’t need. In hindsight, I consider my lack of accounting of my business like a boat captain piloting a boat without navigation. You're just cruising along, not knowing where you're going and eventually, you're going to crash into some land or rocks.
My family and I have always loved going to theme parks and visiting other cities and consider them a nice escape from reality. We've traveled to New York City, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Williamsburg, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Myrtle Beach and other places.
Over the years, I've written about our journeys and about the theme and amusement parks we've visited. I create videos for YouTube and write a separate vlog about the park experiences.
There were a few years that I didn't make any money after my business closed and we went further into debt. After all, not many companies were hiring during the Great Recession, and we went to the theme parks more to escape and unwind. My eyesight, which wasn't very good as a teenager, became worse, thus eliminating many job opportunities.
But enough people started following my blogs and watching my YouTube videos that my hobby became my new job. I started setting out to visit more and more theme parks, amusement parks, concert venues, and other entertainment spots to review and compare to others.
For the World of Entopia’s tenth anniversary, several members from the social media world, including myself, have been given exclusive access to go behind the scenes of this magnificent place and interview some of the key people involved in making everything so wonderful, including Steven C.; the creative mind and founder of the World of Entopia (WOE). We were encouraged to bring our families and to enjoy a great family vacation, as well.
I've made the 900-mile trip to the World of Entopia four times in the last ten years. Mostly with my family and usually just for a weekend visit. We rent a room at a low-cost hotel a mile away.
Over the past thirty years, I've visited many places and can tell you with all honesty, there is one central reoccurring theme; they all want to make a nice profit. For many, it's not just a profit to keep reinvesting and remain relevant in the industry, but the greedy profit that makes shareholders happy and entertainers wealthy. No matter if it's a singer on stage making sixty-million on their tour, to the ticketing companies charging fourteen-dollars in fees for a twenty-dollar ticket, to C.E.O.'s making millions of dollars in salary and benefits; it's all about profit and greed. To me, selfish humans are the main reason life isn't fair for most.
Sure, they'll tell you their number one responsibility is guest satisfaction or guest safety (especially when a riders get stuck on a roller coaster for hours), but they might as well say their motto, goal or mission statement is "Profit before anything else, period."
And it shows. It's evident in the people they hire, the service you receive, and the prices they charge. This applies to other industries as well, not just entertainment. For instance, in the service industry, if you go to a restaurant and get a waitress who is overworked or is in a bad mood, she can ruin even a great and well-prepared meal. In the entertainment industry, employees are the most valuable assets, that can make or break your experience. If you go to a theme park and run into an employee who is overworked or is in a bad mood, they can ruin what should be a great visit.
Many of these people are paid close to minimum wage, and most are part-time with very few benefits. If a ride breaks down, you will be disappointed, but know you will probably be able to ride it again soon. If an employee breaks down, your whole experience could be ruined.
For the employee, it may be a part-time job while attending school, to help pay for living expenses. They know the job is only temporary and being fired won't be the last job they'll ever have.
Even if the employees are well trained and love their jobs, major theme parks can still disappoint you with unreasonable prices and long lines. Have more cash to spend? Then you can buy a "line-cutter pass" at most theme or amusement parks.
Now your two-hour wait for a popular ride can be made even more pleasant by watching others saunter up to the front of the line and riding before you with little to no wait. Never mind the $65 plus you paid to be there. Apparently, that's not enough for the operators. Why do the parks do this? Why does anyone offer V.I.P.? Greedy profit. That's why!
But enough of the negative talk of greed in the entertainment industry. They do provide much to enjoy and much to experience. You will need, however, money and patience to enjoy it all.
You may not ever be able to appreciate having a "line-cutter pass" or a V.I.P. front row seat or be able to afford to dine in a fine restaurant in your lifetime. Unless you visit the World of Entopia. Here, everything you hate about what I just mentioned is nonexistent, and everything you love about the theme and amusement parks, concerts, shows, and restaurants is really, truly here.