Phil Taylor and his wife Melanie throughout the years during their many trips to Disney World. (Phil Taylor via SWNS)
By Adam Dutton
A Disney-loving grandad has clocked up more than 80 trips to the famous US theme park after getting hooked on 70mph rollercoasters.
Phil Taylor, 65, first visited the Florida theme park in 1999 with his wife Melanie, 63, and their two daughters.
But now the grandad-of-five, from Newcastle, makes the 8,700 mile roundtrip four times a year.
The couple fork out £850 each on return flights to ride their favourite rollercoasters all year round.
Phil, a retired train driver, says his favourite ride is the 3D Avatar Flight of Passage in the parks Animal Kingdom which opened in 2017.
Phil Taylor, with his wife Melanie at Disney World in 2002. (Phil Taylor via SWNS)
Phil, nicknamed ‘Mr Florida’ by family and friends, said: “When I think of how many times we’ve been, it’s getting a bit of an obsession.
“I doubt anyone has been this many times, it really is the most magical place on earth.
“It has to be at least 80 times we’ve been, you used to get your passport stamped which made it easier to track.
“We enjoy everything of it, the driving, the food, the people are friendly and it’s such a variety of things to do.
“You can go for three weeks and do one park and never do the same thing.
Phil Taylor, with his wife Melanie at Disney World in 2024. (Phil Taylor via SWNS)
“But the big thing are the rides. We love them, we’ve done all of the rollercoasters.
“When we first went in 1999, we were all quite excited to go. We thought it would be a one-off holiday, but we loved it.
“Then we went back the next year, then the year after.
“Now we’ve done all the rides and attractions, which crazy when you consider Disney itself is the size of Greater Manchester.
“It changes all the time, the rides get changed and turned into something else.
(Phil Taylor via SWNS)
“If it was the same thing every year you’d think ‘I've been here’ and wouldn’t bother.
“Each time you go there’s a lot of things that have changed."
Phil and Melanie say they can afford four trips a year thanks to never moving house or forking out on cheap thrills.
The couple are also members of the Disney Vacation Club - a timeshare-style plan which they can pass down to their children.
Over the years they've covered nearly 700,000 miles flying to the park and back for their adrenaline fix.
While in Florida, the couple also hit the Universal Studios park for an added hit of rides.
Phil added: “We’ve got annual passes for the Disney and Universal Studios, so that cuts down the costs massively.
“What you would pay for two holidays we get four holidays out of the same passes.
“We still live in the same house we bought in 1982, we haven’t moved around. I don’t drink, or don’t smoke, so we save money.
Phil Taylor, with his wife Melanie at Disney World. (Phil Taylor via SWNS)
“It’s not expensive to go on holiday there either. The expense is hiring a car or booking an uber, or the theme park tickets.
“Getting there and back is not far off what you’d get going to Tenerife.
“The shops are much cheaper than shopping here, too.
“We’ve come back with six pairs of shoes with us before.
“We used to go to Dubai in June and I'd do the laying around the pool thinking we could be having some fun right now. So that’s what we did.
“My favourite is probably the Avatar Flight of Passage ride in the Animal Kingdom, you get a pair of 3D glasses and you fly.
“It flings you all over in the dark, it’s fun. The Guardians of the Galaxy rollercoaster at Epcot is good, too.
“When we were younger we saw all the old people walking around the park, going on rides, and we’d say that’d be us, now it is us.
“There’s lots more older people than us, though, everyone enjoys it.
“It makes you feel younger again, it’s the excitement of it all. We do the biggest and the fastest rides to the smallest and slowest."