The Most Magical Place On Earth
Its no secret that my wife is a self-proclaimed “Disney Addict”. I can recall our first big trip together while we were dating was a long weekend to Disney. …. In August…. Yep that’s right, Disney World, not Land. The one in Florida, in what is the hottest month of the year.
I should pump the breaks on this story for a moment and give a little background about my wife and I and “climate control”. She is cold natured. I have seen Katie shiver during a 90 degree day. Myself on the other hand, I run hot, in the way that if I even look out the window at a sunny day, I start to sweat. I was not always this way. A big part of muscular dystrophy that goes overlooked is your bodies ability to maintain a level of homeostasis. It is not an inherent problem when one is idle, but when I start to exert energy. With muscle weakness and fatigue even simple things like walking or even breathing takes far more energy than normal. Essentially my body works overtime just to complete simple tasks. All of this equates to one of my biggest problems. I overheat annoyingly easy.
Let us take it back to Disney. Yeah, that 100 degree, 70% humidity, sunny Florida weekend in August. Katie was having the time of her life and I had soaked through all my clothes by 9am on the first day. Disney for me was not, “the most magical place on earth” that trip.
We were still dating at that point, and the progression of my MD was still new to me in a lot of ways. Overheating was not always an issue for me. So, we decided that we would give Disney another chance during the off season.
Fast forward to this past February. Recently discovering Katie was pregnant and expecting the birth of our first child, we decided we would wait until so many weeks had past and we were safe to make our baby announcement. Because, you know, that is what you must do these days. Its not real until you post an announcement on social media! Haha.
The start wars themed “Galaxies Edge” park had just opened, and it was a no brainer. We were going to Disney! (Galaxies edge will have to have its own post; it was literally the best themed thing I have ever seen). So, we started planning, Katie being as crafty and nerdy as she is, instantly went to her Cricut and started designing matching t shirts for us to wear. The time quickly came, and we were off to Florida!
Its funny, the first trip, I was so hot and miserable, I honestly cannot remember a thing about that trip other than being hot and miserable. Florida in February was downright pleasant. Galaxies Edge was amazing! I have never been into the whole “Meet Characters” at Disney thing, but Katie talked me into meeting Vader while we were there. Guys, I’m not going to lie. That was one of weirdest, most intimidating, and coolest moments of my life. Its not like you meet a guy in a cartoonish outfit at Chuck-E-Cheese. No, they take you back into basically a full-scale movie set individually and while you are mesmerized by the detail of it all, BAM Vader turns the corner. Casted perfectly. Whoever was behind that mask, nailed it. Menacing physical stature, tone, language, and all-around presence. The entire thing was so immersive that for moments at a time, I really thought I was looking at and talking to Darth Vader. Disney, if you ever read this. YOU KILLED IT; I am still speechless honestly.
The rest of the trip was equally enjoyable. We got to casually move around the parks and enjoy many of the things we were not able to do in August. I feel like this trip was about me, to make up for my August misery. Katie even let me nerd out and go on a greenhouse tour in Epcot. Little do people know that a lot of the food they enjoy at Disney restaurants are grown and raised at Epcot. This includes fruits, vegetables and even some proteins like tilapia (which they use as a filtration method for their vegetable hydroponic system) and seabass. The entire operation was fascinating and if you are ever there, I strongly recommend taking the hands-on tour of their greenhouses!
I need to circle back for a moment before I finish this post. The entire point of the trip was to have fun of course and snag some photos of us wearing these shirts Katie made us for the announcement. I must say, my favorite shirt was the one she made me for the day we were in Galaxies edge that had Vader with mickey ears and read “I am the Father”. She also made matchings shirts that read “eating for two” (hers) and “Drinking for Two” (Mine). You know what, I will just leave it there and post some pictures. Pictures tell a thousand words anyways! Ooh yeah, and I met Chewie Photo-bombed me… forgot that happened.
