Our intention was to have a little
excitement. What we received was a constant supply of complaining from the kids
along with a dose of harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun before the afternoon
thunderstorms unleashed bolts of lightning and torrential rain upon us.
Like most moms, I had a plan of
action the night before we left: wake up at 5 in the morning and leave the
house by 6 to arrive at 8 when the gates open. We would then make our way
straight to “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” and ride the “Forbidden
Journey.” Our daughter was exactly tall enough to ride it.
Next, we’d split up to ride a couple
of coasters and then meet at the “Butter Beer” stand to enjoy a refreshing
treat before tackling the rest of the day which was less tightly managed.
Things didn’t go exactly as planned,
mostly due to the fact that we did not leave until 6:30 which offset our day
accordingly.
In addition to this, apparently
everyone else had the exact same plan as I did which means we spent a good deal
of time in line for the first ride, but it was worth it to see my daughter
scared out of her mind.
I’m not sure why, as a parent, I
want to see my children frightened. I remember when our son was four and we
were at Universal Studios where they had the “Jaws” ride. He was oblivious
about the shark element, perhaps because we misleadingly asked, “Want to go on
a boat ride?”
We couldn’t stop laughing when he
tried to climb out of the boat the first time “Jaws” attacked.
When we took our sweetheart on “Jurassic
Park,” she was happy to see the dinosaurs. She knew they were fake, but when
the ride seemed to veer off course, Chris and I acted worried and she took the
bait. From that point until the T-rex made its appearance, she was completely
horrified. It was priceless.
During the rain, while huddled under
some shelter, I was chatting with a family from Japan who are visiting for a
couple of weeks.
“Are you going to check out any
beaches?” I asked.
“No,” said the mom, “Just the theme
parks.”
I was a little shocked. I’ve lived
most all of my life here in Florida and my parents took me to all the major
theme parks. I’ve never lacked for that type of entertainment, but when I think
about the trips to Siesta Key, Anna Maria Island, and Cocoa Beach, I bet I
would have traded a few of those park days for beach days.
Two solid weeks at theme parks would
be enough to drive anyone insane. You can only take so much of the outdated animatronics,
over-the-top adventure rides, and heart-stopping thrill rides.
Even if you can’t get enough of that,
the constant queue lines and whining should put an early end to any extended
park stay.
The rain stopped and, though I
wanted to lecture her about St. Augustine and the Everglades and the beautiful
crystal clear springs, I decided to let her be.
Maybe I need to come up with a new
slogan for our state. “Florida: Find Lots Of Real, Interesting, Dynamic Activities!”
Well, something like that.
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