There was a girl I knew once. She was awesome. She was pretty, funny, smart, imaginative, nice-just about perfect. I hoped that if by some lucky chance she would give me a shot, we might fall madly in love and we’d be together for all time. I got my chance. For a brief time we were together and our time was as bright and wonderful as one could imagine. But then, we had to go our separate ways. Initially, I think I took the break-up harder than she did. Years passed and life moved on until we were reunited further on down the road. That perfect specimen of a girl had not aged well. In fact she had become a shell other former self. What she had become made me sad. Behind her tired, worn eyes, I could see flashes of the girl I once knew, but I don’t think there was anyway to get back that time when we were both younger and more innocent.
I’ll let that analogy sink in whilst I regale you with our adventures for our last full day here in Florida. Another bright morning dawned and we slept in yet again. Used to be, we were the type that would arrive at rope-drop and go hard to see as much as possible early on. Not this trip. We made rope drop about half of our mornings here and while there was some benefit, for us, it was as nice to sleep in and get a bit of rest. By the time we got to the latter half of the week, we felt that we had seen and done the vast majority of what we wanted to see and do, therefore we were able to tour as leisurely as possible in the masses that descended upon this place. Last night, we asked the girls what they wanted to do and neither one of them wanted to return to the Magic Kingdom. They wanted to head back to the Studios for another turn on the thrill rides. Once we managed to get up and moving, we went to Epcot to take in the countries that we hadn’t yet visited. There were no shows to see or rides to be ridden here-just shops and apparently, bakeries. After a couple of hours we left through the back gate, dropped our purchases at the resort and walked to the Studios. For me, that has been one of the great benefits of staying here-the ability to walk to two parks. In fact, I never boarded any type of transportation today and that was about the only time I wasn’t in throngs of people.
We arrived at the Studios in the mid-afternoon and the crowds were thick. The number of folks were definitely higher than in many of my previous trips. This was expected on some level, but I was surprised at the sheer volume this time. About the only thing we were able to do without an inordinate wait was to hit Muppet-Vision and drop by a few shops. Even stopping for a snack or a drink was a prolonger affair this afternoon. The show was exactly as it was earlier this week, this decade, this century, etc. We grabbed another pizza and then went too use our fast-pass at Star Tours. The ride is different than in the past but largely unmemorable. Writing this, I can barely remember the “plot” of the ride. It was enough that the girls found it to be fun and I am glad I didn’t wait long. On our way to ride the Rock n Roller Coaster we made our obligatory gift shop visits and waited for nana to get her next cup of coffee. Our fast pass time approached and we got in the line. This ride had a lengthy wait and we were able to by-pass the vast majority of it. We all nailed the photo, except for Ethel who yet again, kept her eyes closed. We rode it like it was the last ride of vacation, which is what it turned out to be. We skipped our Tower of Terror ride due to a large wait between our times. It just wasn’t worth the wait for us, so we went back to Epcot. On our way out of the park, the girls got an ice cream cookie sandwich. These treats were the size of a small child and managed to give them the sustenance needed for the mile walk back.
We returned to a few countries we had already experienced, bought a few gifts for folks back home, had a glass of wine, and grabbed dinner. Epcot was really crowded when we got there, but by 8:30 or so, it had thinned out a good bit and we were able to move a bit more freely. Nana secured a spot on the bridge between England and France for the fireworks while the boss and I grabbed some popcorn for the group. Illuminations was good, particularly the special “Holiday” finale. If your children can manage to stay awake, it is definitely worth a view. Even though we stayed essentially until close, because of the early closing time and the proximity of our resort, we were all in bed at a respectable hour. Our last park day had ended. I have caught up with that girl. We spent some time together, I introduced my children to her, and we all had a few laughs together. I am sure that our paths will cross again at some point. I hope the next time I see her, she will have pulled herself together and regained that certain something she used to have. I suppose that if you are just meeting her for the first time, you’d probably still be impressed. She does have some surprises up her sleeve, but man if you had only known her back then…
Observations.
1. My family is what made this trip fun and memorable, the location was part of it but not all of it.
2. Walking between parks is infinitely better than Disney transportation.
3. Expect crowds any time you come now.
4. Guest experiences and magic are now secondary to making a buck.
5. I am tired of seeing scooters, wheelchairs, and strollers.
6. Fun interactions with cast members are still possible, just harder since they seem over-worked.
7. Travel like it is the last time you will ever be in this place with these same people. You may visit again, but it will not be the same.
8. I am taking home a bunch of great memories.
9. My kids still rock.
