40 By 40 #6: Take a Trip With My Kids
The last time I was at Disney World was in January and February of 2020. I wrote about returning from this trip in my first post. It was right before both my personal world and the world at large took a giant turn for the worse. Since I had last walked down Main Street USA I had gone to the hospital in an ambulance thinking a panic attack was a heart attack, had my business collapse from the pandemic, felt abandoned by my church and school, went to the hospital for a swallowed toothpick, been lied to and cheated on, been divorced, had knee surgery, moved out of my home, and on and on and on. My kids haven’t had it much better. They’ve had their school year cancelled, had sports and activities shut down or heavily limited, been told to wear masks everywhere, had their parents split up, have to go from house to house. Basically long story short, the 3 of us have had some crap going on this last year or so. So this trip was exactly what we needed!
I love traveling with my kids. We’ve done a lot of cool trips so far, but by far our favorite and most frequent are our Disney adventures. It’s called the most magical place on earth, and for us that is true. For my 6th goal I wanted to take a trip with my kids, and the destination seemed to be a no brainer, where else would we go but to the Magic Kingdom? We rode on all of our favorites. The Pirates of the Caribbean, Expedition Everest, all the Mountains. We fell from the Tower of Terror, Rocked out with Aerosmith on the Rock’n’ Rollercoaster, and took a Jungle Cruise. We even visited the 999 spirits in the Haunted Mansion. But where normally those disembodied souls stay at the gates after you get off the doom buggy, I found myself encountering ghosts all over the parks all week.
The first time I went to Disney World with my kids was 9 years ago. My son was 4 and my daughter had just turned 1. My wife and I were excited to have our first experience with our kids at Disney. I was so excited to plan the trip, I remember I went to the library and checked out a guide book that had all the tips and tricks to get the most out of your Disney vacation. Yes it was all on the internet as it is now, and I definitely have spent a good amount of time over the years staying up to date for our trips, and in more recent years to help others plan theirs. I read that book cover to cover. I had the system down. We knew which parks to be at and when, what order to hit the rides to maximize our experience while minimizing wait times.
We drove down, I remember we left in the evening so we could drive through the night and have our kids sleep for most of the first half of the drive. We were very fortunate because my Grandparents owned a condo right in Orlando, so we always had a free place to stay, and the condo complex with the pond and the ducks and the pool became part of the experience. The first day we went we decided to have my Aunt who lived in Florida come watch our daughter so we could focus on my son’s first Disney day. I remember watching the opening show for the park and seeing the smile on his face and just being filled with so much emotion. It was such an awesome day, and for almost every year since then we would find a way to get to Disney and do it again.
It started on Sunday afternoon. We packed our shared bag (Thanks Frontier for your low low rates and high high baggage charges!), and headed to the airport to begin our adventure. We had a great flight, there was plenty of room to spread out, and we arrived in Orlando. We headed to our airport hotel for the night and the kids had to jump into the outdoor, unheated pool (In November) because it’s Florida of course! We ordered some pizza and got some rest. The next morning we headed to the most magical place on earth, the Caribbean Beach at Walt Disney World Resort! This was the same resort we had first stayed at when we decided to mix it up and not stay at the condo. Since the condo was sold a few years back, this time we didn’t have a choice. Right away the memories flooded back. We had picked this resort because it was “moderate”. That’s Disney resort lingo for not the cheapest, but not the most expensive. Themed but affordable. The kids went right back to the slides they had first went down 6 years ago when they were much shorter and the slides seemed so much bigger. But you know what, they had as much fun now as they did then.
Our first park day was on Tuesday, at Animal Kingdom. We headed to the Avatar Flight of Passage right away. On our last trip this was the brand new ride, and immediately I felt the twinge of my memory. We headed over to Expedition Everest afterwards. This ride has become a tradition to ride over and over again, literally. When the wait is short, we ride it like 4–5 times in a row. We hit the Kilimanjaro Safaris and saw all the animals. At each ride I enjoyed it with the kids, but it everytime we told the operators we had 3 to ride, not 4, I had to hold it together. Animal Kingdom is where the first character dining experience we did with the kids, The Tusker House, is located. When I scheduled the trip, no reservations were available. As we were walking through the park I checked again. There was a reservation right at the end of the night, so I jumped on it and made it. As the park closed we went to dinner, and saw Mickey, Goofy, Donald, and Daisie walk around and wave and take pictures with everyone. It was exactly what I needed that night, to let me know that although so much had changed, there was still that base of familiarity, that connection to the past.
Wednesday was Magic Kingdom day. As we arrived at the front gates there was no show, we were there for the early entry, but as we took a picture in front of them and walked through, I remembered that first visit so many years ago, when I held my son, now almost as tall as me, and remembered all the great times. We had an amazing day. We rode all of our favorites. Splash Mountain, 7 Dwarves Mine Train, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean. It was all the memories we’ve made, I remember riding all of them when I could still hold my kids, now they ride in front of me while I sit alone behind them.
Thursday we did Hollywood Studios. We met my two Aunts for the day and again had an amazing time. As we ended our times at the park and spent the last morning at the pool, I was able to just sit and feel and reflect. I watched them play and laugh, and I could see them through their lives. As the little babies who had their first visits, and couldn’t yet ride everything. The regular visits all blended together. The week was emotional. I had always been the Disney Dad, the planner. The one who spent nights reading the guide book, going on the message boards, all in the hope of maximizing the fun, the experience. It was really this process that led me to my career as a travel agent. I had worried about what this would be like as the lone parent. At the end of the week I had the confidence I needed. I had faced the ghosts, I had planned the trip, and I had made new memories.
Traveling with your kids, and the memories you make doing so, is something I encourage all parents to do. It does not matter if you’re married, divorced, single, experiencing new places and activities with your children is something that is valuable and will create life long memories that will be cherished for years to come. It’s not just parents who should consider this, but Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Godparents, or anyone with kids in your life who you love. My greatest memories have come from traveling with these people in my life, and I will continue to make it a big part of my life!
A few weeks before this trip I accomplished another goal, to take a trip alone. This is my current reality when it comes to travel. I don’t have a partner right now. When I want to go out and see the world, I have to do it under the circumstances I find myself in. Sometimes that might mean going off alone, and making new friends as I go. Sometimes that’s doing something with my kids, and although it feels and looks different then we’re used to, it’s just a new way of making great memories. I hope one day to find a partner that will travel the world with me, and will share new experiences and memories. Until then, I’ll keep on moving forward the best I can, and not give up what I love just because I’m hurting.That’s what I’d encourage anyone reading this to do. Embrace the now, and don’t stop doing what you love, just because someone you loved stopped doing it with you.
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