Dezerland: Orlando's hidden gem

When we went to Orlando this month, we found a place even some of the natives (the fire department when we got stuck in the elevator) know nothing about: Dezerland. It's an amazing indoor activity center, great for families, go-cart enthusiasts, pinball machine lovers, classic car buffs, and mini golfers alike. 

This indoor attraction boasts 300 million dollars in classic cars. It has cars from the beginning of when cars were made, cars from James Bond movies (An entire room of these), cars from classic TV shows, and cars from all over the world at various stages in the last 100 years. 

We took the VIP tour and this allowed us to sit in some of these vehicles and take pictures. We got to sit in the Ghostbusters' car, because it was the 40th anniversary of the original movie debut. 

We saw two mystery machine vehicles from Scooby Doo the movie, the back to the future car, the cars from night rider, 

This amazing place is named after the development company who bought the land. Imagine Dave and Buster's on steroids. This is kind of what is happening. We couldn't even see all of it, although we tried to see a lot of it. 

Overall, I totally recommend seeing this when you are in Orlando, even if you don't like old cars, there is Go-Carts and pinball machines to keep you busy all day long... 

Hulk Hogan's Beach Shop

In Orlando there is a business set up by Hulk Hogan - it's a beach shop. It's an adorable little place where wrestling fans can rejoice in all that Hulk Hogan has brought to pro wrestling. It's also a great place to buy souvenirs and see real pro wrestling belts. 

His name is synonymous with wrestling and his fame has lasted the test of time. Hulk Hogan. The most famous professional wrestler of all time. He made wrestling famous. He was in a Rocky movie and on Johnny Carson. He conjures up imagery of the 80's with sweaty muscle men ripping their shirts off and fighting in brawls to win the world championship! 

Hogan has definitely defined an age and become an icon for pro wrestling. He's done so many other things though, reality TV, movies, and books. He has also set up these Beach Shops. I was skeptical about what could be so compelling about these places, especially in Orlando which is not next to the ocean. A beach shop in this location was confusing to me, but genius for Hogan. It's Disney's home so tourism runs rampant here.  Any extra stop besides Disney is going to draw attention. 

It was a charming little place. It had his image all around. There was a wrestling ring in the center of the room and for $20 you can hold a belt and take pictures in it. (Of course, we did this) The merchandise was good quality as well. I'm terrible about bringing or wearing sunglasses and I needed a pair. The delightful girl working there helped me pick out a pair. She also helped me find a magnet for the fridge and told us about holding the belt in the ring. 

One of Ric Flair's feathered robes was there, autographed pictures of Sting, and many other cool relics of pro wrestling of the 80's and 90's. As a kid my dad and brother watched a lot of wrestling, and my mom even took us to see a WrestleMania event once. It was really neat to see all the wrestling Nostolgia. 

Overall, it was a great place to find souvenirs, see wrestling history, and it did not put me in a sleeper hold. 

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Travel has it's "Ups and Downs"

Have you ever been stuck in an elevator? This unlikely event happened to me and my boyfriend in a Ramada in Orlando, Florida. It was wild. 

We got lucky, it was still early, and the elevator was not hot.  We thought about this within seconds of the elevator not moving. We were coming down from the second floor, so we weren't in any real danger; However, it was a really awkward place, and it made me think, how often does this happen? When elevators are poorly maintained, it happens a lot. 

I did realize not to panic. This would have made things infinitely worse. We were fortunate it was just Jeff and I in the elevator and not anyone with children or severe impairments. (Although Jeff would probably disagree as he was stuck in the elevator with me, and I can probably cover both those criteria as I often act like a child and my anxiety can be severe at times...) 

We opened the call box, miracle it worked. It put us through to someone at the front desk who attempted to get the doors open from down there. We could hear some banging and maybe a key turning. Nothing happened. 

So, he called the fire department. After waiting several minutes, we called him back to make sure he called the fire department, although we probably could've called ourselves, it was nice to have an outside voice at the desk. 

Our heroes, the Orlando Fire Department, arrived on the scene in about 10 minutes or less. We could hear them. We thought we were on the first floor, we could hear people in the lobby, enjoying their breakfast, blissfully unaware that two individuals were stuck in a metal container nearby. When the fire department arrived, it got very loud down there. 

They spoke to us from the door. When they got the door open, we heard, "No, this isn't going to work, we have to go up" which was scary. We knew the door was open, but we saw nothing.  They told us we were stuck between floors. We were a lot higher up than we thought. Which means the elevator must have stopped early on in its journey to the lobby. 

When they had finally clawed the doors open, we could see their feet. About 2 feet of space was available. We got our suitcase and bags out first because that was easiest. Housekeeping stood in the hallway and watched, probably horrified as they use this elevator consistently. 

Jeff, concerned about my anxiety and probably simultaneously annoyed by my picture taking and gasping at "How cool this is..." was very willing to lift me out if the fire department wanted to help. I opted to stay with him and see how this played out. I didn't want to leave him there as well. 

As they were talking to us, they opened the roof of the elevator, in case the ladder they had wouldn't work or the space was too small. This was very cool. I didn't realize how easily this just comes off. We didn't need it, but it was neat to see it. They got us a ladder (I did not take a picture of it) and we climbed it to get out. Shimming on our bellies on the floor between the first and second floor. 

I asked the fire department several questions: How often do you do this? Answer: once or twice a month. They said they have training on various types of elevators. I did not realize there was so many. I thought Otis is a main brand, the one we were in was a Miami elevator. They would not tell me which ones get stuck the most. 

I asked them what normally happens, and they said it doesn't often get stuck between floors like that, it's usually they can just open, and people walk out. Elevators are equipped with all sorts of safety features. The fire department is trained on handling this in many different situations. 

Once out of the elevator, I went to the front desk. "Hey, it's me from the elevator, don't worry I got out", I was laughing and smiling. The front desk man responded, "Oh was that you?" 

A little bit annoyed by this situation and he didn't seem to have any sympathy to the fact I was trapped in between floors, I persisted. "The inspection certificate is expired". 

"No, we just haven't switched it out"

"Since last August? It is June"

"Oh, I will look into it, here is my manager's number" 

 I assume the situation stressed him out as well, so I let his lack of concern slide. Then we got into a discussion about airport shuttles, and I said I would be back in two days as I had another room booked.

After all of this was said and done, we were happy to be out of the elevator and on to our drive to Jacksonville. I am glad it was us stuck and not people who couldn't climb out easily or someone with serious panic. Those elevators are for people who cannot climb stairs, what if someone wheelchair bound was stuck? 

The Ramada did not fix the elevator quickly. When returned two days later, it was still broken. We asked for a room on the first floor. There were two elevators, but the second one also had the expired certificate. I checked when we got back. I don't work in hotels so I could not tell you the cadence of such matters. All I know is from now on, I'm taking the stairs.