Simon Veness

Simon Veness (1960-) started out as an archaeologist (at Cardiff University 1978-81) but quickly realised he was never going to be Britain's answer to Indiana Jones (or even Norah Jones) so switched to a journalistic career, first with the University newspaper and then for the Kentish Times newspaper group.

Working as a sportswriter and sub-editor for News International in London, he developed a travel-writing 'hobby ' that quickly became a full-time passion, leading to the birth of the award-winning Brit Guide to Orlando and Walt Disney World in 1995, which has gone on to become the UK's best-selling travel guide of any kind.

After quitting the UK for the USA in 2004, he hooked up with wife-to-be Susan and they created a prolific travel-writing business, Veness Travel Media, with more feature-packed updates of the Brit Guide to Orlando and the Brit Guide to Disneyland Paris, a book on Internet travel and then Susan's magnum opus in 2009, the Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World. The latter then gave rise to another new guidebook project, the Hidden Magic Planner, which, as they say, "is a whole new species of guidebook."

Together, they now contribute to a wide range of media, including online, in newspapers and magazines, and the usual array of social media. Their work can be seen in the USA and UK, while they can often be found in and around the many attractions of Orlando, as they now live in The City Beautiful.

Simon has also been the Orlando City writer for Major League Soccer since the Lions joined MLS in 2015, and he and Susan have written their first biography, Defying Expectations: Phil Rawlins & the Orlando City Soccer Story (pub. by University of Nebraska Press Fall 2017) based on this Florida sporting phenomenon.