It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of marriage, it was the age of foolishly going to Disney...
This was a trip for a family wedding. We decided to try and use the least amount of vacation days and miss the least amount of school while still squeezing in as much as possible. I knew it would be taxing, but thanks to the help of the FFA, it was all pulled off beautifully. And while it might have seemed smooth on the surface, the duck feet were paddling furiously underwater from start to finish.
On the flight to Orlando, we barely got seats and they split us all up. Our flight was filled with high school cheerleaders. I was in a middle seat completely surrounded by loud, obnoxious high school girls amped up on what I could only guess was a combination of Red Bull, speed and cocaine. From that point on, everything we did was just waiting in a big line. I messed up my back the day before the flight and pinched the nerve pretty bad. So when we got to the hotel Thursday night at 10pm, I was ready to just lie down and rest. And when I woke up Friday morning, I knew I was in trouble. Usually walking or laying down helps my back. But there was nothing that would stop the pain. Standing in place is the worst thing for it and I knew the next 48 hours was going to be nothing but that.
We left for the wedding at 4 and partied until 11pm. We were about 5 blocks away from the hotel and they were supposed to have a shuttle to take us back and forth, but apparently the hotel dropped the ball. So we had to fend for ourselves. I pulled up the Uber app and it said the pick up/drop off for the place we were at was 2 blocks away. But with my in-laws, they couldn't walk more than 20 feet. So a nightmare ensued. My daughter and I had to walk 2 blocks and get an Uber, but then she showed up at the wrong spot, so we had to walk another block. When we finally got in, she literally drove us a block and a half. Also, during our walk, a nice friendly lady called me a disgusting pig from her car. I can only assume she thought my daughter was my date. Either that, or my looks have faded much faster than I realized. My inner voice was trying to convince me it was the latter.
We got to bed around 1am and were back up at 6am to get ready for Mickey. Surprisingly, we got to the park with no issues. Parked right near the front, walked down and no line for the tickets. Walked down to the boat and got right on. Not very crowded and we left as soon as we boarded. It unloaded us and we walked up to the castle and waited maybe 15 minutes before the mice came out and put on a neat little show. When the gates opened, we made our way back to the Thunder ride. When I was a kid, we waited in line for an hour for this ride before it was closed for issues. The one ride I never got to ride. As we got to the line entrance, a park guy told us it was shut down. So we walked from there to the Dwarves ride. When we got to the line, it said 90 minutes and we thought, "Oh well. It is what it is." And we waited, all the while joking around and having a fun time. After 90 minutes, we hopped into the cart and the sat there for about a minute. Then they told us to get back in line. So we disembarked and waited some more. Finally they announced the ride was broken. It was like a cruel joke.
We got our extra fast pass and decided to get something to drink. As we walked to find a refreshment stand, we came across Mary Poppins. She was awesome. Telling the kids how to stand properly and how to look at the camera. My wife and I literally began to tear up and we had to laugh because we weren't sure why. Daughter loved it. You could literally see her go from 16 to 8 years old in a flash. We waited in line for a drink and when it was our turn, the guy told us the soda machine broke. We all got waters and laughed at our bad luck.
At this point, the park was still not wall to wall. It was crowded, but nothing crazy. We went and met Belle which we waited about 20 minutes for. Then we met Ariel with a fast pass. At this point, I could barely walk. My leg shaking from pain. But we soldiered on with opiods and Aleve. After lunch, we hit PotC and this is when we first started noticing the crowds. The line for this was a little under 2 hours. When we got off, you could barely walk anywhere. We finished the day riding Thunder, Haunted Mansion, and Space Mountain with fast pass. Just walking between rides took an hour or so. It was crazy.
We got to the castle a little over an hour before they started and it looked about as packed as the Eagles championship parade. You couldn't move, just wall to wall people. Fireworks were awesome and when they ended we bolted for the exits. Getting out of the park was difficult, but we got on the boat with no issue and off of the boat, too. We even got to our car and had not a single car in front of us to get out. That part was amazing. Of course, as I said earlier, they shut down 4 for an accident and it turned a 20 minute ride into a 90 minute ride. Just more waiting in line in Orlando.
Going home was a nightmare, just like coming. We almost didn't have seats until two people opted for the flight voucher, giving us all seats on the flight. A nightmare. Overbooking is ridiculous and someone should file a class action lawsuit.
In the end, all of the issues were worthwhile. My daughter loved it and it was just as magical as they claim. Would we go back? Not a chance in hell. We love parks and go once a year at least to one around us. I don't mind waiting a little bit for a ride, but if I'm in line for more than 20 minutes, I'm not happy. No ride is worth that long of wait. Disney is because it's Disney, but it's a one time thing in my eyes. Don't need to experience PotC a second time.
One side note, when I rode SM as a kid, there were like asteroids and things inside there that moved and you felt like you were going to run in to. But this time, it was just a ride in the dark. That wasn't as cool and I thought it was kind of dumb when you think about the rides and presentation of Disney. When did this change?