Orlando Vacation pt 2

Vacation planning is tricky.   I had given the girls the choice of spending more time at Disney or a longer stay at Universal.   Because of money, we couldn’t do multiple days at both theme parks, so they had to make the choice.   I just wanted them to be happy.   That was and is always my ultimate goal.   

Of course, we’re talking about three very unique individuals (four if you count their mother), so finding a satisfying balance was not easy.   I’m still not sure that we found it, but at some point during the week I completely lost the ability to care.   There was no way that all four could be perfectly happy all the time.    I had to let that pipe dream go.   I had to search for the moments of joy in one face (while the others looked on with a mix of boredom or frustration that we weren’t doing what they wanted to be doing).   If all this makes them sound incredibly self-centered and lacking in compassion for their fellow family members, then I’ve succeeded in getting my point across.    

Just kidding.     (Not really)    No, of course I’m kidding.    They are not like that (all the time).

The decision was made to go to Disney’s Magic Kingdom for one day and then three days at Universal Studio and Islands of Adventure.    As the girls have gotten older, the big rides at Universal have gained more appeal.    Universal also has Harry Potter.   Never underestimate the power of the Boy who lived.

After experiencing Disney on Sunday, we had planned three days at Universal, culminating with Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights on Wednesday night.   We were hoping that the lines would be less at Universal than we experienced at Disney on Sunday, but they were still fairly long.    Apparently the entire world has read the guides that suggest going to Orlando in the off-season because eighty percent of the people were International.    Huge families ranging from grandparents on motorized scooters to children in strollers and babies breastfeeding roamed the parks in genial packs that could only communicate with us in smiles or friendly nods.    It was a fascinating smorgasbord of languages passing by at any given time, almost always speaking much faster and more animated than our slow, American drawl.  

That first morning at Universal we made our way to the back of the park, shed a little tear for the missing Amity Island section and the loss of the Jaws ride, to stand on the cobbled streets of Harry Potter’s London, gaze upon Kings Cross, the three decker bus, and find our way into Diagon Alley.    For Ashlyn, the semi-obsessive Potter fan, this was Nirvana.   For the rest of us, it was simply amazingly awesome.  

Better than just walking onto the set of the movies, we were dropped into an alternate Potter reality.  We were constantly struck by the detail and artistry on display.   Dark and spooky and magical all at once; overseen by Gringott’s Dragon that occasionally belched out fire so intense you could feel the heat 40 feet below.   

Shelby and Ashlyn got in the long line to ride “Escape from Gringott’s” while Connie, Taylor and I explored the side streets and dark alleys nearby.   We got the famous “butterbeer” that is in no way beer, but a syrupy sweet butterscotch concoction that I’m glad I tried but will never feel the desire to try again. 

 

Once back together we got in the long line to ride the Hogwarts Express from Kings Cross station and platform 9 ¾ to Hogsmeade and the other half of the Harry Potter experience.    They have gone out of their way to make you feel a part of the book and movie.   It’s incredibly immersive and (with apologies to Disney) magical.

At Hogsmeade we had a nice lunch at the “Three Broomsticks” restaurant.   I had heard from a friend that the Fish and Chips were good, but they were actually exceptionally good.  The design of a rustic tavern added to the appeal and you could almost imagine Hagrid, Ron or Hermione walking through at any moment.

Hogsmeade was designed with the cozy appeal of a Christmas card, where despite the Orlando heat; snow graced each roof and smoke drifted from chimneys.   Somehow, just seeing the fake snow made the heat slightly more bearable.   

Once we finally slipped out of Potter world, we stepped into the tropical jungle of Jurassic Park and then on to the streets of the Marvel Hero section.    From ride to ride we wandered, each girl stating a preference for one ride over another, but generally getting along.   Connie and I found an air conditioned bar to sit while they did the big Marvel rides (Hulk, Spiderman, and Dr Doom).    It was a nice break.

Fun as the day was, I was enormously grateful that the Universal parks closed at the reasonable hour of 7pm.   Unaccustomed to the heat or the walking, I was pretty tired.   It’s a shame what office work and a sedentary lifestyle will do to you.   My shin splints had shin splints.

The girls had wanted to spend an evening at our hotel pool, and it was a great night for that.    There was a café and a Pizza Hut poolside, so we enjoyed some pizza and a beautiful sunset.   A perfect end to a pretty nice day.

The next day we were back at Universal early, trying to catch anything we didn’t see the day before because of our Potter mania.  Connie rode many of the rides with the girls and they all agreed that the Harry Potter rides were the best they had ever ridden.   Repeatedly I was told how much I would love them, but they also were pretty sure that the motion would make me sick.   

It’s a bit of a cruel joke that someone who loves movies as much as I do can’t ride most of the movie rides, but if I had any moment of feeling sorry for myself at the park, I was immediately grounded back into reality by one of the numerous children being pushed in wheelchairs throughout the park.   Their faces had no room for self-pity.   Their eyes were wide with wonder at what they could see and not bitterness at what they couldn’t do.    They live their life on the terms they’ve been dealt.   It’s really not a big deal that I can’t ride a few rides at a theme park while on vacation.  

 

That afternoon clouds started to roll in ahead of the forecasted rain.   We slipped out of the park and walked over to Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville restaurant for an early dinner.   I won’t say how much I ate, but I’m pretty sure I blew out my flip flop and lost my shaker of salt.  

That night, we crashed hard.   As the rain poured outside, sleep took us one by one.   Each drifting off to dreams of dragons and wizards, princesses and heroes.   I was last to go, after watching them sleep for a while.   I was so tired that night that if I did dream, I’m sure I dreamed about sleeping. 

Orlando Vacation pt 1

We just returned from our third family trip to Orlando and I am sure it will take me a while to recover.   It certainly was not a bad experience, but I definitely returned home far more exhausted than when I left.   I don’t know what the original purpose of a “vacation” was supposed to be, but I don’t think it left you ready to return to work so you could get some rest.

It was 656 miles from our door in Oak Ridge to the hotel in Orlando.   Our plan was to leave at 4am, and since everyone was excited about the adventure ahead of us, we were actually packed and in the car, pulling out of the driveway at 3:59!     Somehow, the girls slept for 90% of the 12 hour trip; only waking for a Cracker Barrel breakfast stop and a few rest area pee breaks.   It was a quiet drive but tiring. 

That evening we went to the Florida Mall because there aren’t enough places to shop in Tennessee and we needed to walk a few miles under fluorescent lights for no reason.  

Sunday morning we were parking in Disney’s Magic Kingdom parking lot (which I’m pretty sure is bigger than our town) by 8:30am so we could get in the park when it opened at nine.   The line at the ticket booth should have been a clue for what the day would be like.   Then the line to get on the monorail should have confirmed it.     My hopes for minimal crowds because it was fall and the “off-season” were being slowly crushed in the shoulder to shoulder sardine can search for Disney magic. 

Shelby had a plan for attacking the park, and I was more than happy to give up control.   It’s kind of exhausting to be in control of everyone’s happiness.   Planning a trip and trying to satisfy everyone is like wrapping your arms around two dozen helium balloons and trying to keep any from flying away.    I told her to lead and I’d gleefully follow.   We hurried to the back of the park to experience “Splash Mountain.”    Since lines for it get longer through the day, it was wise to get there early.   

Let me pause here to give a brief explanation:   I love theme parks.   I love the logistics.  I love the design and structure of rides.   However, in general, I do not ride them.   I have battled severe motion sickness for my entire life, so even the use of Dramamine doesn’t always ensure my ability to ride anything that spins, drops, loops or shakes.   It’s a risk I’ve learned not to take, because I don’t want my illness to affect everyone else’s good time.   I enjoy the park through their experience.     I am also the designated “bag” holder, which is a very important role…(seriously).

Fortunately, I’m a major “people watcher,” and there is always a consistent and entertaining flow of people to watch at a theme park (Dollywood wins the prize in this field, but any theme park has its virtues). 

When they got off of Splash Mountain, all laughing and wet and happy, I gave them their bags and we quickly followed Shelby to the next target on her agenda.    I don’t actually remember the next hour because they were a blur of running from one end of the park to the other, finding attractions that were showing up on her Iphone App as having shorter lines.   I did ride the Haunted Mansion, because even little kids and people with weak stomachs can handle that one.  That and Pirates of the Caribbean are the only two rides I planned to ride that day.   They are my speed.

 By 10:30am Shelby realized that the crowds were so thick that any real planning was pointless.   Everything was busy.    The good rides had lines of at least an hour and usually 90 minutes.   Even the lines to lesser attractions were lengthy. 

I know this is hard to believe, but I became a bit surly.   I’m not a crowd person, and I don’t like lines.    Magic Kingdom is the oldest of the Orlando theme parks and it shows in the way traffic flow is designed.   I am sure it was inconceivable for Walt Disney and his architects at the time to imagine the incredible number of attendee’s flowing through their gates and walking their narrow paths in 2014.    They didn’t foresee double-wide strollers and oblivious people on their smart phones rudely stopping in a high traffic area to do a selfie.   

It is a beautiful place…a magical place…it actually brought a tear to my lovely wife’s eye as she walked in.    It is immaculately clean and staffed with consistently friendly, considerate employees.    Without a doubt, it is one of the best managed places I have ever been.  

But by 3:30 that afternoon, I kinda hated it.

Originally I thought the park was closing by 6pm…7pm at the latest.    But no…Disney does everything better than anyone else…so their day lasts until 1am!    While this is certainly a bargain for a family that has just paid out over $500 for five one day tickets, all I could think of as the hot afternoon drug on was how tired I was getting…and how bad my feet were hurting from that hard concrete…and how long those stupid lines were.   

Rather than walking around aimlessly from long line we didn’t want to wait in to another long line we didn’t want wait in, we decided to start going to attractions that were not as attractive anymore.   Despite the girls having said that morning that they didn’t want to do “Hall of Presidents” (because it was “boring”), they did not put up a fight when we said we could be out of the heat and in air conditioning for about 30 minutes.   I think I fell asleep for a few minutes during the Presidential roll call and robot head nod.  I’m pretty sure we all did.

After that we tried to do the Pirates of the Caribbean ride (one of the few rides I can do), but it had shivered its timbers somehow and was not available.   In desperation, we did “Country Bears.”    For nostalgia purposes, I hope they never get rid of Country Bears.  It is one of the original Magic Kingdom attractions.    Everyone should see it once out of sheer respect.   This was the third time in my lifetime.   It made me want to go hunting.

Despite their ages, the girls still get excited about seeing the Disney Princesses and characters.   They each have their favorites.   Shelby loves Belle.   Taylor loves Ariel.   Ashlyn loves Peter Pan.    We couldn’t hook up with Belle, but they did get their picture with Gaston (and in the tradition of good girls liking bad boys, they decided he was good looking enough to overlook his dark heart).   We also saw Ariel and Peter Pan, along with Donald Duck, Goofy and some others.    I loved watching their excitement as they stood next to a person pretending to be an animated character.   THAT is the real magic of Disney.   

As darkness fell across the park and cooler air replaced the oppressive heat, I found myself bearing the crowds slightly better.  The lines relaxed a little and the girls did Space Mountain while Connie and I waited on a welcoming bench. 

We tried one last time to ride Pirates of the Caribbean but it was still broken.   While the girls waited in another line Connie and I rode the steamboat around Tom Sawyer Island.   Away from the crowds and most of the noise, with the dark water beneath us and the lights of the park all around, it was my favorite part of the day.

Around 10 o’clock the crowd gathered for the Disney celebration light show and then the fireworks.   Like everything else they do, Disney excels at spectacle and despite my exhaustion and frustration; I looked up at the castle and the sky like a little kid.   Awed and amazed at the magic of imagery and music.   It was a great end to the day.

Yes, the end…because Bless their hearts…the girls said we didn’t have to stay until closing.   I think they were tired too, but maybe they just took pity on their old Dad.    Disney had given us a good long day.    Worth the money despite many rides unridden and many princesses unseen.     That night, after collapsing into bed and falling asleep instantly, I was haunted by dreams of strollers blocking me at every turn.   There was no escape.