Like most people, probably, I initially went to Disney World with my parents. It was such an enjoyable experience that I grew up loving the park, so it shouldn’t be surprising that I couldn’t wait to go with my husband, Luis.
It just so happened that my cousin Alex was getting married in November 2018, so my parents hatched a plan to drive down to Florida and go to the Magic Kingdom for one day (!!!) before driving back up the coast to go to the wedding in South Carolina. I was psyched! For Alex and his new wife, of course, but also to be going to Disney World for the first time with my husband!
In typical me fashion, I did all kinds of research in preparation for going to the Magic Kingdom. I watched tons of Defunctland (I also read his book) and binged Disney Fairy Tale weddings like it wasn’t going to make me crazy-antsy about going. By the time November came, I was seeing hidden Mickeys in my sleep.
Oh, I didn’t even mention that our first wedding anniversary was in October. We went to NYC and saw Hamilton on Broadway. No big deal, right?
The end of 2018 was pretty hectic for me…
Anyway, Disney World.
My parents are not the best when it comes to technology, so at what felt like the eleventh hour (but was actually about a month ahead of time,) they asked me to go ahead and book the FastPasses (R.I.P. 😔) and the dinner. Almost all of the table-service restaurants were booked, but I was able to snag a table for four at Tony’s.
We arrived in Orlando the night before our Disney day, so we hung out in Disney Springs, which has obviously changed a lot since I’d been back in the early 2000s. We had dinner at Raglan Road, which was a lot of fun, and then we did our best to not buy everything in World of Disney. Now that we were there in Disney Springs, I was extremely happy and ready to go to rope drop the next morning.
I’d never been to rope drop before. My parents and I were always into sleeping in, at least a little. But Luis and I wanted to maximize our ride time since we were only going to be there one day, so we made a plan and we were there outside of Fantasyland for rope drop. It’s cool — at least to me — to hang out with the cast members (in their various ride-themed costumes) before things officially open. Everyone was smiling and joking, and there were even some bunnies nearby! That definitely sounds like Disney, doesn’t it?
The coveted ride at the time was Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, so that was the ride we were standing there super early for. As soon as the cast members dropped the rope (they literally do that,) we were off, running like we were kids again. We got on SDMT before the crowds came and made the line much, much longer. The ride was so cute and I was so happy to be there with the man I love and chose… I couldn’t help but cry happy, dopey tears.
And if I was this pumped about that ride, just wait until I was back in a Doom Buggy again.
To be continued…
after the laughter 