By Michael Wright
Ahhh, sing “When You Wish Upon a Star,” Jiminy Cricket!
We wished upon a star and were treated by our “kids” in Alabama to a week-long stay at a Walt Disney World resort this past week, unintentionally but magically coinciding with our 42nd wedding anniversary.
It’s been years since we were both working and able to afford such a visit when we lived only an hour away. It was a great adventure being kids again.
Young Joy took her electric mobility scooter and one was rented for me, which put us into the fast lanes of all the rides giving us very short wait times, since everything was calculated in advance as to which rides to take at what time, in order to get the most out of each day, which ran from 8 AM until the fireworks ended.
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Young Me mustered up the courage to take on rides I might not have tried when I was younger. Can you say “TRON”?
Our favorite rides were the ones which took us totally out of our reality, like shrinking in “Ratatouille,” riding banshees in “Pandora,” and EPCOT’s “Soarin’ Around the World.”
Some of them could be likened to being on an acid trip (or so I’ve been told).
The least enjoyable part was the heat and the human pedestrian traffic – people walking around blindly and oblivious to the fact that they were walking towards electric vehicles, some even cutting in front of us. I took out two little girls walking hand-in-hand across me, grabbing one by the arm and holding her up to keep her from falling to the pavement. She didn’t yell or cry, but I felt terrible and apologized profusely, and yet I would not hesitate to lay the blame on their zombie parents.
The live “Lion King” production was even better than Cirque du Soleil which we saw a decade or so ago. That says a lot!
We ate well, we played well. Our dream came true; now it’s back to “adulting.”
I’m saddened to realize that there will be soon, if not already, generations of kids who have no clue about that song, its singer, or what he represents.
Goodnight Tink!
Mike Wright collects Jiminy Crickets and Ed the Hyenas which are both very hard to come by. If you are prompted to contribute to his collection, let your conscience be your guide and contact him at micwrighthamo@gmail.com.
