jgreene777's Reviews

Even a stick in the mud will have fun...

I know what all has been said about The Magic Kingdom. I'd heard it all my life and I was a true skeptic. "It can't be THAT great." I'd say. "I bet you spend more time waiting in lines and avoiding being swindled by the 'carnies' than having actual fun." is what I would posit.

I've always been the grumpy guy in the line, huffing and puffing about the wait and the pain in my back, then complaining about how short the ride was. I am a bona fide Stick In The Mud... all caps on that one.

So when my wife started bugging me about taking our girls to Disney World for our vacation, I was not "in" to the idea. I wanted to go because I thought for sure my girls would love it, but I just KNEW that I would hate every minute of it. I dreaded the long lines, the hot sun, the wet seats and spending half the day in soaking wet clothes because we rode the log ride too early in the day.

It turns out, of course, that I was more than just wrong. I have not had that much fun since I was a small child. Being Florida, the weather is wacky; rain at 8:30am and sun at 8:45, a nice cool breeze at 9am and rain again before 10am... then sun again... So after the weather forced me to throw out any notions of "plannning" the day and what rides we wanted to go on, I was able to just relax and go with the flow.

I even rode a roller coaster; THE roller coaster evidently, Aerosmith's Rockin' Roller Coaster. Jsut so you know, I HATE roller coasters. I rode this one simply because my 8 year old daughter wanted to go on it and my wife was busy feeding the baby... or something... and couldn't ride it with her. The photo taken at the front of the ride spoke volumes about the amount of terror I felt. I didn't buy the photo because I didn't want the guys at work to EVER get a copy of it...

Needless to say, I learned a lot about myself and how to simply enjoy time spent with my kids. I learned that it didn't matter if it rained on us in line to the Dumbo Ride because it just made it more fun... like a flying log ride or something. I rode with my 3 year old and kept her warm, so I got to be a hero, sort of like "Prince Charming," for my baby girl.

The princesses are another thing... I have never seen my girls' faces light up the way they did during the Princess Coronation. It was... well, Magic. We got to have pictures taken with each of the princesses and eat at Cinderella's castle. We met the Fairy God Mother and got our own little magic wands.

I think our trip to Disney World was a turning point in my life. I learned to loosen up a bit and enjoy my kids while they are kids. They got to see me in a whole new light and I enjoyed seeing the looks in their eyes as they discovered their "new" dad. My wife and I were planning our second trip to Disney World before we were done with the first trip.

Reviewed on: July 25, 2007