Disney World!
Orlando, Florida>, Aug 21, 2009
Disclaimer: I usually tend to stay away from commercial places when traveling. I don’t like to stand out as a tourist for a few reasons. Mostly I prefer doing things that not many people have done, but also because I work in an airport and am very familiar with all types of travelers, and, I’m sure that nearly everyone who works in the airline or hospitality industry will agree with me, infrequent tourist types are my least favorite group amongst them. My paranoid side also feels that behaving like a tourist makes you a target for muggings. On top of that, I know there are some people who will say they hate Disney. I know exactly why they say this. I dislike the type of people who go to Disney. I am annoyed by the people who take their babies there, as though they will even remember it in ten minutes, much less ten years. If there was an award for most annoying traveler type, my vote would be for the people who take one vacation every five years, and of course it’s to Disney, and they have those stupid Disney bag tags on their luggage that they freak out if you touch, and also they don’t know how to check in on a kiosk. Orlando is my least favorite flight to work, because of all the needy Disney people who cannot do anything for themselves. It’s because of them that anyone could hate Disney, or Disney World.
I happen to be very skilled at focusing on my surroundings and eliminating other people’s energy. And Disney itself, if you are able to ignore the kind of people who go to Disney, truly is a magical place. I was so overwhelmed with emotion and pure love of this place that I think they could possibly be brainwashing people or sending subliminal messages. I never thought it was possible to get goosebumps when it was 90, until I took my first steps into the Magic Kingdom onto Main Street USA. It was not technically my first time there, I went a couple days after I turned four, but I have only two very vague memories of the Haunted Mansion and of the race cars in Magic Kingdom. I was in love the second I arrived, and the more I saw the more I loved it. It alternated between being hot and pouring rain, rides had to be closed because it was lightening, and I didn’t even care. If you had told me a year ago that ultimately the blog I wrote about Disney World would include a sentence about how many times I got teary eyed while I was there, I would have thought you were completely insane. But I got teary eyed alright, so many times I lost track. It was a combination of being there, being there with Trinity, and having what would probably be our last adventure of what was the most amazing summer ever.
We made our way through the park, going on every ride we could, getting Fast Passes to go on them again, seeing every show, and arguing about how I was NOT going on Splash Mountain. Our favorites were Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan’s Flight, Disney’s Phiharmagic.