Have you tried Pokémon Go! yet?
I have to admit an interest here: I’m slightly addicted!
For me, the opportunity to go hunting Pokémon somewhere new has put a whole new spin on vacations… Here’s what happened when the Ellis team ventured out to Disney Springs, phone in hand…

It started out as a new way to get myself moving. Walking around hunting Pokémon surely has to be a low-impact, fun way to get a bit fitter?

This summer, it has been a great excuse to get out in the sunshine and go for a walk with some friends. I’ve even found myself going out when the weather wasn’t so great.

But I knew I was really in trouble when I ventured one afternoon recently when there were some high winds breezing through the trees… my friend and I were cheerfully hunting Pokémon under a tree, when a branch fell on my head!

Unfortunately, my “friend” was too busy hunting Pokémon to spare me much sympathy. So I sat there on the grass for a while, sulking, rubbing my head, and generally feeling ill thoughts towards windy weather, branches, and even towards Pokémon Go!

Until suddenly my friend squealed “Geodude!”

All thoughts of sore heads and falling branches disappeared in a heartbeat – as I leapt up to bag the Pokémon!

Catching Pokémon at Disney Springs

That got me wondering… If Pokémon can be such a distraction on a middle-aged mum with a sore head, could it work its magic on bored children?

So Tanya, our homes inspector, took her boys down to Disney Springs to discover how great the Pokémon hunting is there.

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If you’ve never played the game yourself, then you might be surprised to hear that the world is actually full of Pokémon, which are hiding everywhere around us!

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You create your in-game avatar and then, wherever you are, you can navigate your way around the local area using the Pokémon Go! App on your phone.

On the simple score of finding Pokémon, Disney Springs scored well – Tanya says: “We found lots of them…. Including when we stopped for a break in the Ghirardelli Ice Cream Factory!”

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Tanya’s boys found eight or nine Pokémon while walking around, Tanya says: “there were quite a few people there when we went, all playing Pokémon. My boys were lucky enough to get some help from one of the other players we met at Disney Springs.”

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The only drawback Tanya found was that when she visited the game hadn’t caught up with the all the changes Disney has been making at the Disney Springs development.

“Some of the maps in the game didn’t look exactly as Disney Springs does now,” explains Tanya. “It was ok for me, because I really know the old downtown Disney well, so we could work out where things are. But if you aren’t as familiar with the old layout, you might find the map a little bit disorientating. However, they are updating the game all the time, so I guess it will be fixed soon if it hasn’t been already!”

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The boys also found a great Poke gym at Disney Springs and Tanya says they had a lot of fun playing.
“As a parent, I’m always looking for fun things to do to keep the kids amused,” Tanya told us. “This was great because we were out getting some fresh air and exercise and the boys were having a lot of fun. It was great for me too, because they aren’t always the most enthusiastic shoppers. Oftentimes, when we’re at the Mall, they will be complaining about being bored. So as well as being fun for the boys, the game bought me a bit more time at the Mall!”

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Who knew? Pokémon Go! can be a force for good on your shopping trips!

If dragging the kids round the mall is stifling your enjoyment of a bit of vacation shopping, then perhaps your smartphone could hold the answer…?

Please let us know whether your addicted too! And if you’ve been playing it on vacation with Ellis Exclusive Villas please share your experiences here…