Disney World Part 2: Bibbidi Bobbidi Bite Me


So there were a few less than delightful aspects of our trip. May I vent for a moment?

-- I was right to be concerned about the heat. There's hot, and then, apparently, there's "August in Disney World" hot. So freaking hot. It made me a wee bit irritable. We used a spray mister fan and kept reasonably well hydrated, and I still wanted to shoot someone at certain midday points.

-- As I noted, the kids were terrific throughout our vacation. But the unfamiliar sleeping quarters, the heat (did I mention the heat?), and the fairly relentless touring schedule conspired to tease out some of Allie's more demanding personality traits. She seemed more intractable than usual, more tantrum-prone, more just plain difficult. I don't blame her, really, and I tried not to over-react. Except this one time, in the bathroom, when Allie threw an enormous public fit over the fact that I ripped the paper towel off for her instead of letting her do it herself. I know! Can you believe I'd be so thoughtless?

-- At no point did Sean's or Allie's needs for a bathroom break coincide. One would have to go, the other would adamantly refuse; 20 minutes later, the other one's urge would kick in. The upside of this was that it necessitated frequent trips to the air-conditioned bathrooms. We learned to take advantage of every chance to indulge in air-conditioning.

-- I will have to do some serious atoning for all the sins against the environment that I committed. First, the bottled water (hangs head in shame). Second, the lack of recycling of those bottles. Although Epcot does have a smattering of recycling bins, I found none in the Magic Kingdom. Third, the counter-service meals and all the attendant disposable meal accoutrements. Any time I spotted a worker (cast member, sorry) pushing a cart heaped with trash, I felt some fairly huge waves of guilt. There I was, complicit in it all.

-- The heat, my goodness, the ... oh, we've already covered that.

-- I hate shopping in general. But shopping in Disney World in a crowded store with two kids absolutely wild about all the Disney wares? The equivalent of hot pokers stabbing me in the eye. We managed to limit the kids to one purchase per day; fortunately for them, they have one parent (the one who is not me) who realizes that when we're on vacation it might be okay to relax some of our rules about buying stuff. In my defense, I was able to hold my tongue during the trip. I'll just let this one little comment slip out here: The commercialization and materialism in Disney World are both breathtaking and appalling. There. I'm done. No sermon forthcoming (Jeff wipes his forehead in relief).

I could probably keep going, but that's enough kvetching for now. Tomorrow we're off to visit my sister. See you later in the week!