My favorite Princess calls me Auntie
My favorite princess calls me Auntie and there’s nothing in the world like her laugh or smile. Disney world makes her do both, a lot. It’s her happiest place on Earth and seeing it through her eyes is like watching Michael Jackson dance the moonwalk for the first time- pure, innocent joy. So it’s hard for me to not love it the way she does. The crowds are unbearable, body to body, swarms of strollers that will take you out. One man actually told his mother, who was in a motorized scooter, to “run them over” if they won’t get out of your way. I wish I were exaggerating here. I am not.
Forty-five million people visit Orlando Disney Parks every year, the surge fills the park and rides to over-capacity. The inability to actually get onto rides was soul-crushing after spending about a thousand dollars a day, including hotel, airfare and Disney’s admission costs, for the privilege of waiting in three-hour lines for a three-minute ride. Wearing a glittery headband with Minnie Mouse ears did little to numb my pain.
But yet there were many “Magical” moments, as Walt himself would say. Those moments are more magnified in light of the social isolation that would befall upon us all a mere month later. My niece arranged dinner inside the castle on our first night there during a special “after hours” event. We celebrated her mother’s birthday and were part of an impromptu engagement celebration. As we were the last diners, we surrounded the just engaged young couple from India, putting them in chairs and encircling them with dance. We chanted Hebrew songs of congratulations as the staff cheered us on. Inside the castle. That was magic.
When we exited the castle for the after-hours event the crowds were gone, and we ran around like the kids we felt like, hopping onto ride after ride as if we owned the joint, with zero wait times and no fast passes needed. We laughed and cheered and ate popcorn and watched the Villain parade. We rode the rollercoasters and shot at Buzz Light year.
The fireworks show brought a catharsis. The dessert in Epcot France, honestly, might be worth the grand a day, as is the Hibachi in Epcot Japan. The international Soarin’ ride was spectacular and the Canadian movie had my husband and I traveling down memory lane as we were encircled by giant screens of all the places we’d been fortunate enough to visit together.
Yes, Disney can do better to improve the guest experience. But I would relive February 14, 2020, every single day if I could, and bottle the absolute delight of spending those moments with my family at Magic Kingdom in the middle of the night. It was utter joy. Like my niece.