If I survive the work and play opportunities along the Nature Coast and can somehow drag myself to Arizona, I plan to sleep in every morning and take long naps once I get settled there. Why? Because volunteering here in Florida is exhausting! Long hours of kayaking and boardwalking wear me out. Yet the sheer beauty of this area is a strong magnet to keep me here a little longer. Plus, I am either in the best shape of my life right now or very nearly on my last legs.
When Matt and Sherry offer to take me with them to Disney World I enthusiastically agree failing to consider how much energy the trip will require. I mean we are here in Florida, right? Gotta pay homage to the big Mouse and his friends. Can’t wait to throw my hands up on a wild roller coaster.
Strategies for a Good Time
Matt and Sherry do all the planning for our trip which is a job in itself. Observing their efforts, I would say you need an online course in how to do Disney if you plan to successfully maximize your ride to waiting in line ratio. Had I been in charge of this adventure it is doubtful we would have managed to live long enough to enjoy any of the popular rides.
For instance, the line for Pandora (whatever that is) stretches as long as 3 hours when the park opens. People actually got to the park an hour or so early to wait for the opening of Animal Kingdom, then ran down to queue up for the ride itself. Unless they can actually transport me to another country, dimension or planet, my line limit wait endurance is about 30 minutes. After that amount of time I become hungry and or thirsty (again), bored, tired of standing and weary of all the whining (and that is just my whining).
Statistically Speaking
Here are a few stats from our 3 day adventure:
- I walked 58880 steps (25.22 miles)
- I join Matt and Sherry for about 14 ride/shows. My favorites include “Soaring,” “Mission to Mars,” The Land,” The one about bugs and all the underwater ones. I also loved the Safari. As you can see, I tend to gravitate to the old people shows – when did that happen?
- The 3 adult beverages I consume on Monday night make the Epcot fireworks, which include the additional challenge of dodging unlit strollers in the dark, much more enjoyable. However it is doubtful I will be able to pay off the total debt for those 3 drinks in my lifetime.
- My favorite ride is Mission to Mars in which Sherry, Matt and I as trainee astronauts pilot a rocket to Mars. As the Pilot (Matt navigates and Sherry is flight engineer), I am proud of my spacecraft landing. I “hard land” our craft on the runway and skid to a stop with our nose dangling over a bottomless precipice. Yet I am thrilled to report that we all survived. As Storm always said, “Any landing you can walk away from is a good one!”
To Summarize
I thoroughly enjoy myself and learn a lot from the Disney employees about customer service. I plan to use my newly acquired skills with the tourists I meet as I volunteer. So I guess I did gain a bit of an education while squealing, oooing and aaahing during my visit. I am grateful to Matt and Sherry for making my Disney dream come true. It was worth the effort even though I slept on my feet and while paddling for three days once we got back!!
In order to sneak a bit more fun into my time here in Florida, I am delaying my departure for a couple of weeks. I should be in Arizona by the end of February if I survive that long 🙂 Can’t wait to see all my friends there when I finally arrive!
Once in Arizona, you can’t sleep in too late on Mondays!! Jeep Day! 9AM!
Those strollers at Disney look dangerous.
Those strollers are dangerous! I will go to bed early Sunday night so I am not late for Jeep Day!!
I love that you are so adventurous! I need to tell you the story about my Mission to Mars adventure and how I was dizzy for about a month…..lol.
We were dizzy too! Loved the story!
Boy have you been busy. I noticed that the manatee took leave of your protection when it got cold down there a week or so ago. I was wondering if you guys had to drag your paddle boats to their new location? ;>) Sure is good to here from you, thanks. Take care and keep up the good reporting, been YEARS since Sandy and I went to Disney land, took us a little time to recoup as well. ;>) Not sure we would make the grade at all now. Love ya kid, take care. GOD BLESS
JD/SD
Jim & Sandy
Actually the cold weather drives the Manatee back up toward us to shelter in the warm springs. There are hundreds up in the channels with us – it is awesome!
Love you too – hugs to Sandy!
Darn. I was hoping you would still be in Fla the first of April. I’m going down to Lakeland for the Fly-in. Oh, well, hope you enjoy the rest of your stay.
David Knight
Hi David – so good to hear from you! I hate that I am going to miss Sun N Fun – sure would have liked yo see you there!
You deserve a gold medal maneuvering past all those strollers and wheelchairs at Disney World! Glad you went with us, it was a great time! I know they call Disney the “happiest place on Earth”, but I think it is also one of the most exhausting!!
Sherry and Matt
So true – thanks for taking me there!!
Love to see your adventures? We have some catching up to do?. Rufus??
We do need to catch up – give me a call when you have time. Would love to know if our paths might cross this year!
I’m loving reading all of your adventures Deb! I look forward to keeping up with you here once you leave FL. YOU GO GIRL. “Stormy is proud”… ?
Thanks Deb – that means a lot coming from you!!
PROUD”…!!!!!!!!
not a question mark. Jeezzzz. Lol