This is part one of a four-part series about my trip to Disney World.
Day Two – Animal Kingdom
Day Three – Epcot
Day Four – Magic Kingdom
Jeff and I took a vacation a few weeks ago. We went to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. We had a great time!
Let me rephrase that. Even though we had trouble getting people to understand that I can’t walk, we had a great time. People didn’t understand that I can’t walk because I was on a scooter. There are so many people that use scooters and wheelchairs when there is nothing wrong with them. Everyone assumes that you are able-bodied and that makes me look bad!
We stayed at a hotel right outside the park because we got a better deal. I rented a scooter before I got down there so it was already at the hotel waiting for us. Renting a scooter was the wrong thing to do for someone like me, who is really handicapped and can’t walk.
Monday morning, our first day there, we went to Hollywood Studios. I was using the scooter. Our Fast-Passes were for after lunch. A Fast-Pass allows you to skip the lines for the rides or attractions. You can still ride without a Fast-Pass but you have to wait in line. While we were waiting for our Fast-Passes, we decided to ride some of the other rides. We rode the Great American Movie Ride, I had to transfer from the scooter to the ride.
Next we were going to ride Star Tours—The Adventure Continues. These two workers came up and asked if we were together, Jeff replied yes, and they led him off, out of the room. I asked the other guy what I was supposed to do, he said, “When your husbands car comes around, you’ll walk over and join him.” I said, “Okay, what am I supposed to do, I don’t walk.” He then took me to where Jeff was but we met Jeff on the way back. I transferred to the ride and rode without further problems.
After that we just walked around looking. Hollywood Studios was a big place, all of the Disney theme parks were big. There were scooters and strollers parked everywhere, I thought that was kind of odd. We went inside a cafe to get something to eat, drink and take a break from the heat. I had to stay on my scooter because I can’t walk but that is why they were parked everywhere, people would leave them outside and walk into the restaurant or sometimes the ride.
We had my manual wheelchair with us. It was in our car. Before time for our first Fast-Pass, I wanted to go get it. The scooter wasn’t working out for us. Jeff said that he would rather push. I was glad and I was more comfortable in my wheelchair.
Our first Fast-Pass was for Indiana Jones. It was like a play. They acted out scenes from the Indiana Jones trilogy. Right after that it was time for our second Fast-Pass on the Twilight Zone–Tower Of Terror. I had to transfer for this ride. I had heard it was scary. You get in a seat in this compartment sort of like an elevator and they take you way up in this building and let you drop several feet at a time until you are on ground level. They wouldn’t just let the compartment fall, they forced it down. Each time they would drop you it would get pitch black dark. It felt like my shoe was coming off. I told Jeff “I am losing my shoe!” He said, “I can’t help it! We are on the Tower of Terror!” He wasn’t letting go to try and fix my shoe! Once that was over, I thought I could ride anything.
After that we had time before our last Fast-Pass for the day. We found some shade and talked to a woman while we made pictures of some little geckos playing in the grass. Our last Fast-Pass was for The Rocking Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith. I had to step down into the car and pull this bar down over my head because it went upside down. I was in no way prepared for what happened next, it got pitch black dark and you take off so fast, your stomach is a few cars behind you. It goes from 0 to 60 in two seconds and scared us worse than the Tower of Terror did. I’m getting too old for that stuff.
Afterward we walked around and went to a museum about the life of Walt Disney and saw a show about captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean. We looked around some more and determined we had done everything and seen all that we wanted. We left so that we could go to Walmart on the way back to the hotel.
Our first day went well despite a few minor inconveniences. Jeff says that pushing me is better than constantly having to turn around and make sure everything is okay. People were also rude and would get in my way a lot and not let me around. With Jeff pushing, he could maneuver around the people.
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