Gosh! What is there to say about Disney World that hasn't been said? It's crowded and crazy and completely overwhelming. It's kicked my butt and now I've gotta figure out how to recover because there's so much going on this spring.
The first day was lukewarm at best for Charlie. He seemed to be confused mostly--not really understanding the rides and often closing his eyes because it was dark and there was soothing music. Great, right? I drag my kid all the way to Florida so he can experience lines and nap through the actual rides.
Well, at the end of the first day we took him on the Finding Nemo ride at Epcot and I sang to him a little so he would open his eyes. It was filled with fish--fish, and sting rays, and turtles, and all sorts of other sea creatures. If you've been by my site at all these last two weeks, you'll know we've been all about the sea. He GOT it.
After that, it got easier. By far, he preferred kiddie-style rides with very bright and extreme visual images. Except for It's a Small World. Something about that particular ride put him to sleep every. single. time.
The disability thing was quite easy. Some lovely commenter recommended getting a "stroller as a wheelchair" pass when we arrived and we did. This enables you to take your stroller into all the areas where strollers are normally not allowed. You can bring your stroller in lines and leave it right at the entrance to the ride. You do have to be able to lift your child to put them on the ride, but for the most part, it was extremely easy.
Put ourselves firmly in the "disabled" category was interesting. I find that I don't completely love the person I am when I'm in "disabled" mode--I get aggravated with people blocking ramps for no good reason, I was mad when one family went through the disabled entrance because it was their child's birthday, and other silly things like that. I mean, it's not a big deal, but for some reason it bugged me. I have to work on that. Disability access should be about making things the SAME--not making them different.
We ate too much. We did the meal plan thing, and it's really more food than you need. Seriously, no one needs two desserts in one day unless they're marathon runners or something.
I guess I should also say that I was surprised by how normal I felt at Disney World. You see, there are all kind of people, all kinds of children, and all kinds of circumstances. Blind, palsied, autistic, fat, thin, foreign--you name it and Disney World has it. We were just one of the crowd.
For those that like to know these kinds of things, Hollywood Studio had nothing of interest for Charlie. At the Magic Kingdom he liked The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Buzzlightyear's Space Ranger Spin. Teacups and Flying Dumbo were OK. Epcot was probably his favorite park--we went on Imagination and The Seas with Nemo and Friends several times. There's an activity area after the Imagination ride that he also really enjoyed. He was also strangely enthralled by Mexico's Grand Adventure which is pretty much a boat sailing by a lot of videos about Mexico. Still, we got a lot of smiles on that one so we did it more than once! In Animal Kingdom we enjoyed the flying Dinosaurs and the petting zoo area.
So, it was fun, but I'm tired.
