Magic Kingdom
If you’ve never been to Disney’s Magic Kingdom, I highly recommend it. Don’t have any children. I STILL recommend it. Children are all grown up and it’s been decades since you brought them there. You guessed it, I still recommend going back. I can honestly say it is truly a magical place. Not to get all dramatic, but watching my young girls react to the events, rides, fireworks, animation show and characters was an awesome experience. Some think the ticket price is high. I would have paid triple what I did without even blinking to bring my girls back. I can’t put a dollar value on the moments we shared, fun we had and smiles that will be imbedded in my head forever.
I would never admit this in real life, but I got choked up a bit watching my oldest daughter be in absolute awe during the fireworks/animation show. The show was amazing and better than most 4th of July fireworks I’ve seen. The whole theme is about dreams coming true and the magic of Disney. As a child the world is pure, life is fun, there are no bad things/people in the world. We adults know better, yet we still dream. Everyone should dream and Disney reminded me that life is bigger than a job, house, car, Rolex, jewelry (my wife may disagree with this one) or other “stuff”. Life is about happiness, passions, family and living the dream. I give kudos to Disney for recognizing this and reminded me what’s REALLY important in life. Thankfully, I had 3 of the best decisions in my life with me that night enjoying the fireworks and magic of it all.
Best Tip I Ever Received
Over on facebook, Fiona gave me one of the best tips I’ve ever gotten before I left. She told me to go directly to Guest Services at the Magic Kingdom to get a pass that avoids having to wait in long lines at the rides because someone in my party (me) has T1 Diabetes. I was reluctant at first because I’m not one to take shortcuts, handouts or freebies and never cut a line. I want to EARN it. After being talked into it by my wife, I went in and asked what they could offer.
Without question the girl gave me the card below that provided me with an “Alternate Entrance” to each ride. I basically went up to the handicap entrance for each ride and was put on the very next one without ever waiting more than 5-10 minutes at most. This was a HUGE benefit because some of the lines were probably an hour long for a ride that lasted a few short minutes. I felt funny using the pass, but with each use it became easier and easier. This saved me and my party a TON of time and allowed us to enjoy almost all of the rides.
My advice to anyone who has T1 or T2 in their party is to get one of these passes. After seeing how valuable it was, I’d probably pay a few hunj to buy one of these if it was offered. I guess diabetes does have some perks, which reminds me of the Desperate Housewives episode where Susan uses her failed Kidney to get out of a speeding ticket and cut lines – not that I watch the show; it’s just what my wife told me. 
Funny Story (Now)
As promised in my last post, I wanted to share a story that almost led to my wife beating my ass. We leave Orlando after our flight was delayed about 2 hours due to weather. So our little girls are exhausted and an airport is not a fun place for them nor a cramped plane. We land in Baltimore and sit on the tarmac for 30 minutes because there wasn’t a gate available to park the plane. We waited till all the luggage was out only to find our car-seat must have arrived early and was sitting in a different area looking abandoned. Lot’s of irritation at this point and 3 extremely exhausted girls. So the stage is set, right? Approx. 10PM and tired.
We take the shuttle to the parking garage that is about 8 stories and decent size. We go up to the 4th floor and as we exit the elevator, I proceed to tell my wife, “I have absolutely no idea where the car is”. I hit the panic button on my keychain . . . Nothing. I start walking the 4th floor hitting my unlock button over and over… and over. No car. I get a little panicked and go to the 3rd floor, nothing. 5th floor, nothing. I hit the 6th and 5th floor again. NOTHING. My wife is calling my cell phone and literally screaming. I’m pissed, she’s pissed and the girls are beyond the tipping point. A nice Police officer patrolling the garage picked me up and I explained what happened. He nicely took me to each floor going up and down EACH row starting on the 8th floor or top.
Guess where my car was…
On the 4th floor about 150 feet from where my wife, the kids, a million bags, stroller and car-seats were impatiently waiting for me. The kicker is that I prepaid my parking and when I went to leave they charged me another 3 dollars for the 1.5 hrs I spent looking for my car. I quietly paid it and looked at it like an idiot tax. Then she told me I should have called the help phone because they take images of each parking spot and could locate my car in minutes. I grumbled something along the lines of “it aint ever happening again” and sped off. I only felt slightly better when the police officer told me it happens ALL THE TIME.
Learning: I’m going to take a picture with my phone of my car in it’s spot before each trip.
Would you have used the pass to skip waiting in the long lines?
Great question. We are going to Disney this fall and have been debating whether to ask for a pass. My six year old has type 1. I really think we will, even though, like you, we don’t usually like to think that way. However, I know Benny will face complications at Disney that other kids won’t even have to think about. We know there will be challenging moments during the trip, so why not make it easier when we can. I’ll let you know what we decide!