In 1993, a sportswriter from Great Britain had an unhappy holiday in Orlando and returned home frustrated by the lack of literature aimed at U.K. travelers.
“I just got a bee in my bonnet one night and sat up late drafting out what I thought would be an idea for a British-based guidebook, because the Brits were at that stage the biggest long-haul market to Orlando,” recalls Simon Veness, whose resulting Brit Guide to Orlando just came out in its 29th and final edition. Recently, he and co-author/spouse Susan Veness spoke with me about their brand-new Orlando guidebook, which is aimed not at visitors from across the pond, but locals on the lookout for 111 Places in Orlando That You Must Not Miss.
According to Simon, the same traits that draw many Americans to Central Florida make it immensely popular with Brits like himself. “It’s the weather, it’s the service ethic, it’s the general quality, it’s the variety and it’s the efficiency,” he says. “People know exactly what they’re going to get in advance, and they know that it will deliver as a destination.”
However, inflation after Brexit and COVID-19 has hit the U.K. market even harder than the United States. “The Brits have always been very price-conscious, and they’re now very aware of the fact that things aren’t as cheap as they used to be,” says Simon.
“At one point, the exchange rate made it good value, and the theme parks were better priced. They’re now very aware of the fact that the theme parks are a lot more expensive. They don’t spend anywhere near as much time at the shopping malls as they used to do. Certainly there’s not as many now that get rental cars, and they prefer the added value of staying in a villa [a rental house, instead of a hotel].”
Simon says another big difference is that Brits “are also more adventurous in wanting to get out and see what’s beyond the theme parks, and they’ve got the time to do it.” That gave them ideal experience for assembling a list of nearly 222 bucket-list items (counting the sidebars with alternate suggestions for every entry) without entering the big theme parks. “I would say a good 75% of the book were things that we already knew about in one way or another,” Simon estimates, adding that researching the book made them seek out older below-the-radar area attractions like the Florida Citrus Tower, the Presidents Hall of Fame, and the Showcase of Citrus (all in Clermont). “We thought, ‘This is a great opportunity to highlight some things that we didn’t know about and find out the back stories.'”
Something that sets the Venesses’ 111 Places apart from other checklists is that “it’s not just the location; there has to be something about the location that’s unusual,” says Susan, explaining their selection process. “For example, everybody knows about the Orlando Science Center, but not everybody knows that it includes the Poozeum.” (Sadly, the fossilized feces collection departed Orlando in May 2023.) Similarly, they managed to squeeze in Maxine’s on Shine despite a limit on how many restaurants they could include by focusing on its alien-inspired restroom. “We just kind of sat and talked about, ‘What do you really love? What do I really love? What’s unusual?'”
The guidebook pays tribute to the best of Central Florida, from the natural beauty of Wekiva Island and the Lake Apopka wildlife drive to volunteer opportunities with sick children at Give Kids the World Village. But I like that it doesn’t overlook its tragic past and current foibles, from the Ocoee Massacre to the eternally under-construction Majesty Building.
Something I also appreciate about 111 Places — aside from the vibrant color photography by Kayla L. Smith — is its attention to the darker, quirkier side of Orlando, which Susan says is largely attributable to her love of “the weird stuff [and] the creepy stuff”: the Prometheus Esoterica antique shop (“You go in there and it’s almost the stuff of your nightmares”), Vault 5421 cosplay lounge (“You just don’t know what you’re going to see when you go in that bar”) and the Babyland infant cemetery (“When you go there and you stand on that property, you will feel something that is almost life-changing”) all made her list. Susan also claims responsibility for several Disney-adjacent entries, such as the Orlando Public Library’s collection of Walt Disney World blueprints and planning documents that she calls “a real treasure trove [of] getting behind-the-scenes on how it all really came together.”
After completing the book in a four-month sprint during the spring of 2023, Simon and Susan embarked on a yearlong cross-country RV trip, which Susan says unexpectedly increased their appreciation for the City Beautiful. “Part of what we wanted to do on the RV trip was find a place that we would eventually move to, and we haven’t found any place that we love more than Orlando.”
“What we most like about this book is the fact that we do get to tell a comprehensive picture of a city and the way it’s grown up over nearly 200 years,” says Simon. “Although tourists will get a lot out of it, it’s really geared very much toward locals who just want to explore more about the city,” Susan adds. “A lot of these places you know, but there’s this one little side-step that maybe you don’t know.”
Since several businesses highlighted in the book have recently shuttered, Simon and Susan are already seeking candidates for the next edition. You can give them your suggestions in person during their book signing at Lake Eola’s Merry Market on Dec. 20 … and keep an eye out for the ghost dog while you’re there.
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This article appears in Dec 11-17, 2024.