Sneaking Off To Record Stores In Disneyland – A Users Guide

Vinyl records enthusiast? Going on holiday to Orlando, Florida? Want to find a record store? Read on…

As an aside to the previous post about Yesterday and Today, I secured my copy of this Beatles record during a holiday in Florida at one of a couple of decent used record stores that I found. I say “found”. I do of course mean “deliberately drove to” having distracted the family for a millisecond by pointing out a large alligator in a lake. Down went their guard and by the time they had stopped staring at what turned out to be a log, I had returned from a two hour long trip at two of Orlando’s finest record stores…

You might think that going on a family holiday to Orlando, Florida is not exactly rock n roll. And you’d be right – but then, that’s kind of the point. The closest I would have got to rock n roll in a family holiday to Orlando was seeing either The Blues Brothers in Universal Studios (fun), Elton John’s Lion King Songs at Animal Kingdom (er, the kids loved it), The Village People or Herman’s Hermits live at Epcot (or Chubby Checker), or Pat Benatar and Kool and The Gang at Universal again (I was tempted by the latter…).

Let’s face it – Disney didn’t exactly grasp rock n roll by the hand in the past. In the ’70’s, if you had long hair and weren’t female, they wouldn’t let you through the gate. Fact.

But, in 2013, after a week of Disneyfication, one can’t help wanting a small fix of rock n roll. I did experience what nightclubbing in Florida is like, purely by popping in to a Hollister shop in the Florida Mall. I think the concept of this clothing store is to allow kids to buy clothes in an atmosphere that will most closely resemble where they are likely to wear the clothing – in this case a rather relaxed nightclub. In that light, most of their stuff looks great. Just don’t examine it for quality too closely in daylight. (Am I sounding old yet? I’m not the only one. Inside, the store is packed with kids. Outside were their parents, all holding their hands over their ears, and silently wondering what the world was coming to…).

I had a week of chasing some very excited children around the theme parks (my own children, I should point out) – topped off by a day at Blizzard Beach water park which they should have renamed “Swarm of Sand Flies Beach” such was the infestation of insects. It looked like a scene from an African famine news story. (All that was missing was a soundtrack of Michael Burke talking about “biblical proportions”… and some thin people).

So here’s a shout out to two record shops that were both highly diverting for an hour or so and which are worth going to visit if you happen to be out that way.

First was Rock n Roll Heaven, a huge record store packed with good stuff – new and used.

This was packed to the rafters with vinyl, plus books, memorabilia and weird stuff. Highly diverting and a comprehensive collection. We had an awkward “English translation” moment when my request for a Stooges album found me directed to a “Three Stooges” bin, but they were very nice about it…

Ten minutes drive from Rock n Roll Heaven is Retro Records

…which was slightly smaller, but very friendly, and which happened to have four copies of Yesterday and Today. They knew enough to talk me through the different versions, as a result of which they won the sale. They also had a copy of a rare Neil Young record (Time Fades Away) that was a useful find.

Both are well worth a visit if you are in the area – and feel in need of a haven of safety away from The Mouse…

Record #191 – Neil Young – Time Fades Away