My NEW Dream Vacation
Originally Posted Tuesday, December 9, 2008
We just got home from a week-long vacation in Orlando a couple days ago. Of course now I'm dealing with re-adjusting to a normal schedule, if there is such a thing for me. And it seems like there's so much to catch up on from the time you were gone...it's almost overwhelming, really. This vacation was quite a bit different from previous ones. I mean, I've almost always had to deal with health issues on any trip we've taken, but this was the first year that things were drastically different because of my health. And I learned a few things about planning future vacations.
We've always been theme park people. We love roller coasters, thrill rides, shows, and all the big tourist attractions. We have season passes to Universal, and we had annual passes to Disney last year. So, the first thing we do when we get to Orlando is buy a 4-day Disney park-hopper, and then we proceeded to plan out which parks we'd go to on each day. Well...I never made it past the 2nd park. And I spent most of the rest of the week in the room at the resort. I just could not and would not spend another day in the crowds, in the lines, in all the noise.
For one thing, I had to be pushed in a wheelchair through the parks. Between my kidney issues and the accompanying back pain, and the frequent cataplexy that causes my legs to turn into rubber bands, there was no way on earth I could do all that walking. Then, despite being pushed in the wheelchair, I get pretty tired out after like 3-4 hours of doing anything. The guys took turns wheeling me around, but they were getting stressed out and worn out from trying to maneuver all the uphill/downhill stuff, not to mention the crowds of people who constantly stop walking in the middle of an uphill walkway, block the ramps to get up on the sidewalks, and just walk right in front of you, causing you to come to a screeching halt to avoid either dumping me out of the chair or running over the backs of their heels. We just weren't enjoying ourselves because of all the stress of it.
The guys went to a few more parks during the day while I hung back at the resort, catching up on Animal Planet, Fox News, SportsCenter, and reruns of 7th Heaven. But they would always come back frustrated that they didn't get to do much and that there were just too many people. We honestly just watched a lot of mindless TV, slept, and played video and board games the rest of the time. Maybe that sounds pretty boring, but I guess we're just into boring nowadays. We found ourselves almost wishing we were back at home, in the peace and quiet of the country, and especially away from all the crowds of people. Maybe we're just getting old, but the "happiest place on earth" just seems like the most crowded, stressful place on earth. I never used to understand why people would go to a secluded cabin in the woods or a quiet beachfront to go on vacation. I mean, what would you do all day? Nothing...that's what. And that's sounding really good right about now.
