I never really considered Disney Land/World all that magical,
fun sure but not magical, nor do I have a whole cork board
covered with memorabilia from 99 trips to Disneyland as a kid (EM does)...
Howevaa...
We woke up before 6 am to go to the airport...Landed in Orlando...checked into the hotel...and proceeded directly to Disney World Magic Kingdom. Needless to say the boys were a bit worn out having had no nappers. Max was focused only on going to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and became sadder/moodier with each delay. Finally, we made to Pirates and Max and Sam loved it! (Sam was also scared of it just standing in the line. He is a mild
scaredy cat). I figured it may just go down hill from there (and it did a bit as Em made us go watch the lame
Tiki Tiki Room show). But after a little nourishment from Pecos Bill's fabulous hamburgers we happened upon Splash Mountain.
We walked by it and since Max heard loud screaming coming from the ride he was immediately interested in going on it. He turned out to be taller than 40 in.!!!
(He is also taller than 44 in and got to do space mountain) Max and I proceeded to run through the path right up to the ride with no line to wait in!
A little background on this ride: It is themed after the stories of
Uncle Remus Brer Rabbit. I remember from my childhood my father telling me stories of
Brer Rabbit and said Hare being flicked into the
Briar patch.
I loved the stories and it is a great memory I have of my dad
(even despite almost being dropped as a young child into a large Blackberry bush by said father and older brothers, who thought it was a good idea to perch me on the end of a long ladder and hang me over said HUGE bush to pick a few berries). So I was prepared to tell Max the story as we went along the ride.
The magical moment happened on this ride. He morphed from a cranky little
PUNK into the happiest boy on earth. His smile was so big that his lips were curling up and was laughing hysterically. The bubbling enthusiasm was very contagious and soon I was smiling and laughing at nothing with him. At the end of the ride the attendant let us stay on and ride it again.
It was such an
awesome transformation to watch in him. His happy face was priceless. I can't write how happy it made me to have gone on that ride with him. It combined a great memory of my childhood
story time with my dad, with an awesome experience with my son. I also bought a
Brer Rabbit Treasury book for my
souvenir and have already read the whole thing to him.
It truly was magical for us both.
