We woke up to our final day at Disney. Our plane did not leave until the early
evening so we had time to do one more park in the morning. We chose Epcot because there were many things
we did not get to do there when we visited earlier in the week. Of all the rides at Epcot, Test Track was our
favorite so we planned on doing it today; except when I say “our favorite” I
was referring to 4 of us. For some
reason today, Zachary was terrified of this ride, even though he rode it
earlier in the week and loved it. We got up early went to get on the bus to
Epcot planning on going to Test Track first.
But while waiting for the bus, Zachary freaked out. And I mean “freaked out!” He stopped dead in his tracks and kept
repeating, “I don’t want to go. I don’t want
to ride it.” We kept encouraging him and
reminding him of all the fun he had 3 days ago when he rode it. But he wouldn’t listen. We were by ourselves with no other family so
we were all going on it or none us were going.
And I did not come to Disney World ‘not’ to ride the rides. But he kept it up throwing a major tantrum,
even stopping as we walked on and trying to go back to the resort. At this point we had had enough. Our polite encouragement turned into direct
commands. From “come on Z, it will be
fun” to “you are going on this ride, period!”
When I asked him what he was so scared of, he replied “in the beginning
when the car does a quick brake check.”
I thought it was when the car sped up to 65 mph at the end but no he was
scared of a brake check! This just added
fuel to my already fired up frustration.
At least be scared about something scary, not a brake check. So the entire bus ride, the walk up to the
turnstiles, the walk into Epcot, the walk all the way to Test Track, he
complained and argued and fought. It was
exhausting for him and us. But after
tears and yelling and whining, I finally calmed down and we got him on the
ride. And what do you think ended up
happening? That’s right, He loved
it. Ended up being his favorite ride at
Disney. Does Father know best or what?
At Test Track, you are use a car designing program.
Zachary was able to design his own car.
Nate was not.
After Test Track, Zachary’s shift was now over and it was
now Drew’s turn. Drew began to complain
about everything. And I mean
everything. He complained about the
weather, being too thirsty, not buying enough souvenirs, Mickey’s ears are too
big, everyone is eating ice cream but him, why does he have to walk at Disney,
or wait in lines, why is the sun so hot, and why cant he look at it, and his
feet hurt, now his legs, etc. He takes
his job very seriously and no one can complain better.
We got through a couple more rides and decided to eat lunch in
Mexico. At this point we were all exhausted
from Zachary’s tantrum, Drew’s complaining, oh yeah and Disney World. After pushing a heavy stroller with 2 upset
children around the world at Epcot, I was ready to settle down for a nice meal
and rest my legs and brain. So when the
kids saw that Dad was about to rest, they devised a master plan. As soon as I sat down, Drew reported that he
needed to go to the bathroom. So I got
up from my comfortable seat and found the busy restroom in the middle of the
busy lunch hour at Epcot to take Drew to go pee. As soon as I returned, Zachary announced that
he too needed to use the bathroom. So
again I fought the crowds and took him.
Once I returned, phase 3 began and Nate asked to go as well. So when I returned from taking 3 children to
the bathroom separately, sitting down to enjoy my now cold meal, everyone had
finished their meals and announced that they were ready to go, so I needed to “hurry
up.” Master plan complete.
From Epcot, we returned to the resort after lunch and turned
in our luggage for the Magical Express back to the airport. Now the comedian, Jim Gaffigan, puts it best
when he says “My favorite ride at Disney was the air-conditioned bus ride back
to the airport.” I was looking forward
to this long hour long ride to catch some sleep after a long morning at Epcot. But for some reason, the Mexico lunch place
at Epcot had put speed into Nate and Drew’s tacos and it was now causing them
to wiggle non-stop the entire trip back to the airport. No restful sleep was to be had while I sat
next to 2 shake weights.
We boarded the plane with no hang ups but it was getting
into the evening after dinner and now everyone was getting more tired and
cranky not having naps this day. So Drew
shifts starts again and he begins his steady regiment of complaining about
things we have no control over like the air being too stuffy and the blankets
too scratchy and the pretzels not delivered fast enough. And Nate starts crying just because he can. He probably figured, “We are now in an
enclosed space. There is nowhere I can
be taken to de-escalate the situation. Daddy
could probably use some judgmental glances about now. Time for me to start crying for no reason.” To which he did. And to top it all off, someone also had a
small dog in a carry-on that barked for literally the entire 2 and a half hours
on the plane trip home. And Drew was
sure to complain about that too.
My favorite moment on the plane though was when I went to
the bathroom with Nate and while I was peeing, mid-stream, Nate opens the door
and walks out, back to his seat leaving the door open. I hope you enjoyed the show Flight 874.
We touched down on the ground, exhausted but glad to be home. As we were walking out of the gangway, who
did we see in the airport but Jack Hanna!
A local celebrity to us but exciting none the less. We went up and talked to him and he could not
be nicer. Super friendly and gave each
of our boys an autograph and posed for a picture. Thanks Jack Hannah for an awesome end to our
Disney trip.
Jack Hannah and the wildest animals he has ever come into contact with.
Well that is the official end of the Allen’s Disney trip
2014. We left with 3 children and
returned with 3 children. I call that a “win.” We made some awesome family memories that our
children will always cherish for the rest of their lives. Nate ruined his parent’s plan to avoid the “fake
nap” by falling asleep with a sucker in his mouth. Drew got a “poop finger.” And Zachary got to
play his Kindle. Memories you can only make
at Disney World.
I hope your Disney vacations will be as magical as ours,
The Joyful and Tired Dad
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