Boys,
Yesterday we got back from one of the biggest trips we’ve taken as a family. The plan was to fly down to Orlando, spend some time at your Uncle Jeff and Aunt Katie’s house with Jacob, Julie, and Savannah, do Disney, then drop you boys off at your grandparents’ house while your mom and I went to play in a golf tournament at Streamsong Resort.
It was a big plan.
Early on, however, there were some signs of what was to come. First, we learned that the water park in the neighborhood was under construction. Our Thursday plan was to spend the whole day there, so we needed to pivot. Before that, however, was Wednesday at Hollywood Studios.
Meeting Slinky Dog
We got up early Wednesday and wanted to be out the door by 7:00am so that we could park and be in line for the “rope drop” at 9:00am. Well, the drive and park portion of the morning took less time than we’d planned for, so we had some time to wait outside of Toy Story land. We’d eventually end up doing a lot of Star Wars things for you, Reags, but first, there was a certain dog we needed to see.
“Rope drop” was just a few park employees with a little plastic “STOP” sign telling us that if we weren’t staying at a park hotel, then we had to stay put. Finally, the clock struck nine and we made our way over to the ride. There were eight of us — us four + Memaw + the Worrell’s. We got in line for Slinky Dog Dash, which I would say was a pivotal moment in our Disney day.
Now, at this point in the trip, vibes are high. We have the whole day ahead of us, and I’d be lying if I wasn’t also looking forward to the golf tournament your mom and I were going to play later in the week.
Luckily for us, your mom and Jacob created and updated a shared note on a daily basis leading up to the trip. The closer we got, the more things that got added.
It’ll never go back to the way it was when I was young and were to Disney where it’d be like, “OK we’re here. What do we want to do first?”
No, sir. Now it’s “Julie and I are getting up at six tomorrow to get on the website and book our lightning lane passes, so if there’s a tornado, get the kids downstairs and we’ll just hope I survive because we have ONE CHANCE TO DO THIS CORRECTLY!”
Anyway, we get in line and I’ve been working on Reagan since yesterday to do the Tower or Terror with me. At first, you’re somewhat into the idea IF Savannah does it to, which she says she would. But then one lightning pass goes to this thing and I’m 90 minutes behind everyone for that thing, and it looks like we might need to push the T.O.T. (yeah you know me!) to later in the day. But as this plays out, the first moment of weakness about ol’ Mr. Slinky Dog comes from Koen.
“I’m not doing the Slinky Dog ride,” you say.
“What? We’re already in line, buddy. Why don’t you want to go on it?”
“It goes to fast on the turn,” you say motioning to the first little bend in the ride ahead of us.
Of course, I’m thinking about that nice little drop the follows the little bendy, but I’m not going to mention that the bend is the least of what your worries should be. By the way, this is what we’re negotiating with…
Notice the slouched shoulders and furrowed brow. Nevermind the hair — that could be us having a great time or not at all; no indicators from that. We’re moving through the line and we have maybe 20 minutes left until it’s our turn. By now, your mom has promised sugar and whatever toy you want if you’re “brave” enough to get on the ride. Meanwhile, you have my phone and I’m giving you a piggyback ride to try and turn the souring vibes back to what they were in the rope line.
I wasn’t going to lose and by the time we got to the front, you accepted your fate and got on with me after having been promised that it wasn’t going to be scary at all. So the seating goes:
Memaw/Jacob—SavannahJulie—Koen/Dad—Reagan/Mom
Now, I’ve been working on Koen non-stop for the past hour while we were in line telling him how great it’d be and how he can get anything he wants for being so brave. I don’t really know if anyone else is nervous or anything and I’m assuming that everyone else is ready to go. We get in, pull down the lap bar, and Koen and I hold hands like guys do when they ride roller coasters with each other.
The ride starts and we rocket off toward that first bendy hill that we saw from the line below. Koen, your face looks like we’re already on the Tower of Terror, but after that first turn and drop, you start to soften up a bit — are you enjoying this or has fear taken over and you’re just bearing it as best you can? Hard to say.
The ride itself was more aggressive than I was expecting, which was fine with me but I’m really focused on making sure Koen isn’t too scared. It’s not like we’re at Cedar Point, but there are some other big swooping turns, some hills that you take pretty quickly, and a few other drops that aren’t nothing. At some point, I notice mom from the car ahead of us talking to Reagan about something — trying to tell him it’s going to be OK or something like that.
After most of the ride, there comes this point where the cars stop, and you’re looking ahead at another big climb and drop. As soon as we shot back off, Koen went back to big fear and I had to be all, “we’re almost done. We’re almost there. I got you. Here we are. Koen, look up. Koen, we’re done. Koen, wasn’t that fun?!? I’m so proud of you! You did a hard thing! What are we? We are strong… we are brave…we can do…”
“Shut up, dad.”
As we are getting off, there’s a bit of commotion coming from Mom and Reagan’s car. I guess at some point, the fear got you too, Reags, and you turned white and mom and to shake you back to life, so to speak. The funny part to me was that afterward, you kept telling Savannah and anyone who would listen that mom “saved your life.” I think she liked hearing that and didn’t correct you, even when you said it for the umteenth time. “Tonight, I want mom to put me down because she saved my life.”
OK bud…..
The good news is that everyone survived. The bad news was that Koen wore that same expression, pretty much the rest of the day (until the very last ride, where we shot digital rings at a bunch of Toy Story characters and got points — that ride saved the day from being a total miss.
The Bubbles Costs What?!?
The bad news was that on our way out of Toy Story land, Koen went to cash in on his “get anything you want” IOU when you saw a Buzz Lightyear bubble machine vendor in the middle of the walkway. Do you like Buzz Lightyear? No. Do you like Toy Story? Not really. But I’ll be damned if that thing doesn’t just let you push a button to make hundreds of bubbles shoot out after one another and by golly that is the thing you want!
The rest of the group was on our way to Star Wars, and mom U-turned with Koen to buy the bubble machine. We stop, and I feel like I overheard something absolutely ridiculous and I must have heard it wrong.
It sounded like the vendor said, “fourty-two dollars.”
I shoot a glance to your mom as she’s pulling out her wallet.
I look at Julie. “Did she say, ‘forty-two?’”
“Kelly…”
“Did you say, ‘twenty-two?’” she confirmed.
“Forty-Two,” repeated the vendor.
Thankfully for our bank account and future access to funds, your mom was able to step away from that transaction after she quickly logged into Amazon and found the same thing for $10. She promised it would be waiting at the house for us tomorrow morning.
We (everyone except for Koen) enjoyed the rest of the day. Reagan, you loved all the Star Wars rides and you even got to build your own droid (which you named R3D3). Savannah also built one, and the two droids were able to communicate with one another. Later than night, we had to turn them off because they were beep-bopping upstairs while we were all trying to wind down, and it was causing a ruckus (a ruckus I say!).
As we were making our way out of the park, Jacob spotted a dad playing with his kids that had two Buzz Lightyear bubble machines. He made some “that guy is flexing $84 worth of bubble machines” comment, which I guess the guy heard.
Without missing a beat, the dad yelled out, “I brought them from hooommmmmeeeeee” to which Jacob replied in a matching tone, “you’re the smartest man aliiiivvveeeee!”
I was glad the day ended with a laugh, and overall, I think that day, and the rest of the trip, went off about as well as we could have hoped. Disney memories are rarely about how great this ride was or that ride was. Instead, you remember the humor found in the long lines, and the sense of relief you feel when you get home and look back at the pictures.
There was a line that came to me while we were there that I couldn’t quite figure out how to say. The line was, “The love you share by way of the ones you love.”
I think the whole trip had a lot of ups and a lot of downs. Life doesn’t stop when you’re on vacation, but I’m constantly reminded of how lucky we are to have friends and family that show up for us the way our friends and family do.
You boys might not remember trips like this when you’re older, but I’m grateful for these moments and I try to capture the essence of them in posts like this. Maybe you’ll remember bits and pieces, or maybe you won’t. But just know that your mom and I feel very blessed and that you both make our lives so much better, whether we’re on vacation or bored at home trying to find ways to pass the time.
We both love you boys so much.
Love,
Dad
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