Weekend Plans Post: The Light At The End Of The Tunnel Might Not Have Been A Train

I went to Disneyworld.

The Coronavirus protocols were in full effect. They said that they were at 30% capacity and, holy cow, it felt like it. I mean, if you looked around, you might be tempted to say “HOLY COW, THE PARK IS *PACKED*!” (and, certainly, for someone stuck in a basement for the last year it was overwhelmingly crowded)… Check this out:

I was kinda overwhelmed by being in a crowd… but I’ve been there before and I’ve been there before when you couldn’t help but jostle a complete stranger as you walked down the lane. As crowded as it looks in the pictures, social distancing was in full effect. You might pass by closely to somebody as you were walking past them, but you’d quickly find yourself 6 feet away from people for yards at a time. So it was a weird mix of “THIS PLACE IS FULL OF PEOPLE!” and “holy cow… this place is *EMPTY*.”

Lines for rides like Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Castle were 20 minutes.

I couldn’t help but think that the little kids would be somewhat spoiled by the experience… “they think that lines for Pirates are 20 minutes. That’s the baseline.”

My boss had his fitbit and gave us our numbers at the end of the days. Day 1 was 8 miles. Day 2 was *9.5*. It had been many months since I’d worn shoes instead of slippers multiple days in a row and even longer since I put in almost 20 miles in 2 days so my blisters had blisters at the end of the trip but, oh, jeez. It was a wonderful calamity. I’d never been there with little kids before and, holy cow, being there with kids changes *EVERYTHING*. For one thing, you can’t help but notice how many stairs there are when you’re in a group with two strollers. One step is okay. Two steps? Forget it.

But that also had me notice how many steps Disney doesn’t have. Ramps everywhere. EVERYWHERE. There may have been a staircase here or there, but it was next to a ramp.

They were very good at the whole mask thing. Someone who was nosing his mask was quickly and efficiently reminded by a cheerful cast member that proper mask wearing was required. You could take off your masks when you were eating… but if you thought “oh, I forgot a thing” and stood up, someone was there to remind you to wear your mask when you weren’t actively stuffing your face. And stuff our faces we did! We somehow managed to get reservations to the Crystal Palace.

They used to do this thing where Characters would wander from table to table and so you’d have Snow White asking you about your day or Peter Pan calling the desserts “bangarang” or something and, due to covid, they stopped the characters visiting but the food was OUT OF THIS WORLD.

The prime rib didn’t need to be cut with a knife. The side of your fork was sufficient. And it *MELTED* in your mouth. (We guessed that it was sous vide. It had to have been.)

What impressed me the most by it was that they could have half-… erm, they didn’t have to make it a good meal. They could have gotten away with corn dogs and Frito pie. But that meal was, seriously, the best meal I’d had in the last year. Hands down. And I was eating it with friends. I almost just sat there crying at the table.

And the days passed and we had to come back home and I limped through the airport and OH MY GOSH was it good to get home and sleep in my own bed and take a shower under my own showerhead.

And that’s why, this weekend will be just spent doing low-key stuff. Maybe some grocery shopping in person. Maybe a jog, once the balls of my feet are no longer tender to the touch. But, gosh. I’m so glad I got the shot.

GET THE SHOT!

So… what’s on your docket?

(Featured image is some fat guy blocking the view of the Stormtrooper room in the Rise of the Resistance ride at Hollywood Studios.)