Last year, as Senior Editor Mick Moignard pointed out recently, both Managing Editor Denise Amrich and I were conspicuously absent from Lotusphere for the first time in nearly a decade. Of course, we had a great excuse: we'd gotten married the week before. This year, we're still very happily married, but we'll be at the Dolphin for all the fun.

It's another first for us as well. Unlike previous years, when we went to Lotusphere to escape the snow, this year we've moved to Palm Bay, Florida. So, we now live just about an hour away. We can actually drive from home to the show, and not have to go back to the snow when it's all over.

But enough about us. Let's talk about Orlando, Lotusphere, and Disneyworld. Throughout this article, I'll be providing you with fun facts and sprinkling in some helpful links, all to help prepare you for the fun.

Fun Disney facts
Disneyland, out in California, was world's first theme park. Opening day in 1954 was a disaster. It was very hot. Back then, most women wore heels to events like an opening day. On Disneyland's opening day, most spiked heels wound up sinking into freshly poured asphault. The original Disneyland team also underestimated the need to keep cool. There were not nearly enough drinks. One enterprising person decided to counterfeit 10,000 tickets, many of the rides broke down. It was quite the mess and took most of the summer to iron out.

Walter Elias Disney learned a lot from his first theme park. For example, he realized he wanted to maintain the illusion of each themed area. One day, he watched a staffer dressed in a cowboy outfit walk through the space park, completely spoiling the futuristic effect. From this observation came the plan for the intricate nine-acre tunnel system used today at Orlando's Disneyworld.

Back in 1964, there was a mystery in Orlando. Large parcels of useless swamp land were being bought up, but no one knew why. Or by whom. Eventually, it became clear to Orlando residents that the 27,443 acres of what Disney called "The Florida Project" were, in fact, being bought by the Disney organization. Interestingly, Disney used a network of false fronts and misrepresentation to do the purchasing. False company names were used, including front companies named Tomahawk Properties and Latin American Development.