Single Dad Disney Days

Marathon walking, oppressive heat, long lines. (sorry for the blurry picture) It can only mean one thing: Disney in the summer. Yes, that time when thousands of parents take their children on the "Year of a Million Dreams" tour in order to make all their wishes come true. We drove up Friday morning, and arrived at the condo in Orlando at 2:00 pm. We arrived at Disney approximately 4:00 pm and began with the Dumbo ride, the Cinderella Carousel, and Small World. (Anyong hi kaseyo) We then ate snacks, had drinks, and walked to Toon Town to go see Mickey and Goofy and friends. We ended up riding the Barnstormer which is like a kids roller coaster. Noodle bonked her head on the side once or twice, but she said she loved the ride. We traveled to Frontier Land to ride the Jungle Cruise and do some safari shopping (bought her a surf girl necklace). I thought Noodle would be scared of the dark cave at the end of the ride, but she thought it was cool. We then headed to Splash Mountain, but it was already a long line, and the Fast Pass was too late. So we ended up heading back to Main Street to watch the SpectroMagic parade, which is a festival of lights and characters. Noodle screamed and waved at every single character, including Ursula, and the Big Bad Wolf. A fairy came up and waved to Noodle real close and she thought that was the coolest thing. Even today, she can tell you every character she saw in the parade, which is a 30 minute ordeal of me standing and holding her in a crowd of hundreds and hundreds of people. What I did notice was that people were actually arguing with each other at the end of the day. There were really unhappy people fighting about who was standing where and when. I mean, isn't it the happiest place on earth? You can't be mad at Disney. It's just not possible (that is if you're relatively an even keel person). Afterwards, we did some shopping (the pic above was at the parade, and as you can see, she had already picked out a special Mickey - more to come on that) and found a cool giant lollipop the size of her head. Yes, I spoiled her, but that's what Dad's do on special weekends. Day Two - Animal Kingdom Note to those who have never been to Animal Kingdom. It is gianormous. It takes a hike to get to Africa, and the lines are probably at least a 1/4 mile long. Think about that. If you just stood in line for four rides, you're going to walk a minimum of one mile - slowly! The Tree of Life may be one the coolest things I've ever seen. It is truly an artistic achievement not to be scoffed at. The Kilimanjaro African Safari ride thing is really cool. You pretend you're actually in Africa on a Jeep safari helping to keep an eye out for animals and poachers in order to preserve the protected lands and animals. In the end, you help "catch" the poachers and return the baby elephant to its mother. On the way, you get to see about twenty different types of African animals up close, sometimes within 20 feet away. Perfect for pictures. However, I recommend a good camera with high speed ISO and able to click off about several frames per second in order to find a good one in the end product. My simple Kodak has great megapixels, but even the 1200 ISO setting isn't clear. So the second ride was the Kali River Rapids. I thought Noodle would be scared, but she loved it, and continues to talk about the ride, and say it was her favorite thing. She got soaked on it. Thankfully, I brought a change of clothes, spare sandals, and extra sunscreen. So we changed afterwards, and had Lo Mein and soup in "Asia." Afterwards, we walked to the Tree of Life theatre to watch the Bug's Life theatre 3-D show. It is just great to sit there and see the bugs come to life, to spray water and wind and feel things crawl beneath your butt. All the while, you can hear people screaming and giggling because the show really is so much fun. We then went to Dino-Land to ride the Triceratop Spin (think Dumbo as a Dino), and then to see the Nemo musical. The Nemo show was my favorite. It is cool to sit right there and have them come right by you as you're watching them do the entire movie in about 30 minutes (plus, all the indoor shows are air-conditioned which is like heaven). By this time in the day, we've been at Animal Kingdom for about four hours, and have had four people comment on Noodle's stuffed Mickey. It is perhaps the softest thing you've ever felt. And people kept saying that it was the nicest Mickey they had ever seen. Of course, one woman told her husband that they were going to have to go to Magic Kingdom to buy one of those Mickey's. I kind of felt bad for him. After the Nemo show, we traveled to Camp Mickey/Minnie to take a photo with Mickey Mouse. It was the only character she "asked" to take a picture with. She didn't want pictures with the princesses ("Daddy, I don't really like princesses anymore. I like Tinkerbell" - Damn sassy girl). So here is the picture of me and her with Mickey. Now, just before this picture she was very excited to see Mickey. But as soon as we got up to Mickey, she started to cry. I had to hold her and say it was okay. Then, as the photographer started to snap a few pics, she stopped crying instantly and smiled big. Yeah. And then, as we were leaving, she turned around and said, "Bye, Mickey" and waved her arm off. Oh, to be young again. After this was "Lion King" show and then off to meet a friend for dinner elsewhere in Orlando. So again, she was at the park from 10 am - 6 pm. Eight hours. I have a 6 year old who can go non-stop. Day Three - Hollywood Studios If nothing else, do the Toy Story Mania 4-D ride/game. It is the coolest thing Disney has come up with. You get to shoot pies at targets, darts at balloons, rings at aliens, and balls. It is quite cool because while you are playing, you are interacting and affecting your game. It's so much fun. By the way, if you end up beating my score of 119,700 points, don't be impressed. The top score of the day was 324,000 points. Yeah, someone was getting a phone call from the Army recruiters after that one. We also saw Little Mermaid show, Playhouse Disney, Beauty and Beast, and High School Musical. The shows are great because, yes, they are mostly air conditioned or shaded. The exception is the HSM show because it is a parade of sorts and it is HOT as hell out on that concrete. We did Hollywood Studios from about 10 am - 5 pm and then drove all the way home, which took about 3 1/2 hours (stopping for food and bathroom). We we returned home, I was exhausted. Guess what, Noodle dreams of Disney. She's told me that she'd had dreams that she gets to pick out a purple balloon and pink Minnie hat, and that she's always at Disney in her dreams. I hope it lasts a while, and keeps her thinking happy thoughts for another few months as school starts and she gets adjusted to her school schedule again. Well, it was a long weekend, but well worth the cost, and well worth the memories she and I will talk about for many years (at least until our next major vacation). Okay, so my next vacation idea for her was either NYC (see some shows and sights, and of course FAO and American Girl), Hot-Lanta to visit friends (see the aquarium), or back to Orlando to see SeaWorld and Aquatica. I'll take suggestions to other places, but if it is close to you, be prepared to give me and her a couch to sleep on. Signing out, sleeping and recovering.