Thank God for $20. Hotdogs

Back in year 2000, after having worked 6 to 7 days a week (mostly 7) for an 18-month period, I decided to take my family on a vacation.  I had earned it.  My new construction job site was cranking with good systems in place, and I had adequate full-time support to justify the time away.  I was tired, needed a break from the grind, and my daughter, Abigail, at age 4.5 was ready to experience none other than “the wonderful world of magic,” Walt Disney World!  I had never been to Disney myself, so I, too, was bound to enjoy it having read all of the stories and watched all of the movies with Abi.

I began planning the trip around Thanksgiving of 1999. I like to research and even interview folks before I travel. I figured that gathering good information and tips for a Disney vacation should be pretty easy to do since I knew so many families who had been-- some, repetitively, and others annually. Now, I make no pretenses in my perception that the world is big place, and until I’ve seen it all, I’d, for the most part, just as soon refrain from going back to the same place year-after-year (unless it’s free, of course.) Disney World is nothing close to free in my experience. Let’s just say that while I was dumbfounded by the $20 hotdogs we had while racing to catch the Electric Parade our first night at Disney, by the time we left, just 3 days later, I was thanking God for those $20. hotdogs we had since that was the cheapest of all the food we had during our stay.

The exorbitant cost for food was revealed during my interviewing process, so I was somewhat prepared to overspend for mediocre meals.  I had also heard that waiting in lines for 60 to 90 minutes in the sweltering, Florida heat isn’t much fun.  I was pretty sure that long wait times would not work for Abi. I imagined the misery of creeping along in the line with a cranky, hot, tired, sweaty 4.5-year-old latched around me as I fiddle around with water bottles, crackers, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, and anything else I can find in my “bag of tricks” to fritter away the 90-minute wait for a 60-second ride before joining the next 90-minute line. Fortunately, I had a friend who had the skinny on the “best times to travel” to Disney. The two weeks when the crowds are reportedly most scarce are the third week of January and the fourth week of August.  I concluded the 4 days at Disney World would be during the third week of January, 2000, so we could both flee the January chill of the northeast, and avoid the heat and humidity of August in Florida.

The more I read up on Disney, and considered Abigail’s age, my fatigue, and the fact that we wouldn’t be doing Disney World repetitively, the more I became convinced that on-site accommodations were the way to do this thing. I decided we’ll go once and become fully immersed in the Disney experience—luxury accommodations and all!  This would give me tram access so I could get Abi back for a nap easily when needed. I chose our accommodations based upon the location of the park that I thought we would be spending most of our time exploring which, given Abi’s age,  gender, and clearly-stated desire was the fairytale land of Magic Kingdom. Location dictated that The Polynesian would be in great proximity to Magic Kingdom so I booked the 4-night stay.

Now, a funny thing happened.   The more I read about and anticipated what 4 nights in Disney World might look and feel like, the more fatigued I became. It is a very stimulating environment, and I was already tired. That’s when I figured I probably ought to just go ahead and schedule a vacation to accommodate the vacation so I began to look at other Florida destinations—those more relaxed in nature.  I figured a week further south where we could lounge around and read by some body of water under some sunshine and palm trees would probably be a fairly relaxing precursor to Disney World. Of course, I’d hope to see some art, do some cooking, and drink a little wine on a deck somewhere overlooking some water, and observe some wildlife. I wanted something relatively inexpensive considering the way I had planned to do Disney World. I found such a place called ‘Tween Waters Inn. It’s an absolutely delightful, little spot nestled between the Gulf of Mexico and Pine Island Sound on Captiva Island.

View from the deck.

Comfortable, modest, with a full kitchen.

Beautiful setting!

My precious little girl with me.

Logistically, here’s the way the travel went down. We flew into Orlando, rented a car, and drove about four hours down to Captiva Island where we relaxed, read, hung out on a quiet beach across the street from ‘Tween Waters, cooked some meals in, had some wine on the deck watching the sailboats, wildlife, and sun sets, tooled around town and found some fun art galleries, and picked up a couple of cool pieces from my favorite gallery down there, Jungle Drums. After 6 nights of rest and relaxation, we drove back up to Orlando and stayed at the Polynesian for 4-nights before flying back to Philly. Here's some of the wildlife we got to observe.

Pelican

Gator

White Herron

Feeling like we needed to learn something, we day-tripped up to Fort Myers which is about a 45 minute drive. There, we toured the summer estates of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford where we took a look into Thomas Edison’s life as an inventor and his friendships with both Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone. The gardens and landscape include hundreds of unique species including many huge Ficus trees that were planted by the three men who wintered there. They referred to the gardens as their “botanical laboratory.” My favorite is a Banyan tree. Planted in the mid-1920’s it is one of the largest Banyans in the country, truly a magnificent sight to behold.  We brought back some pencils for Abi’s classmates, and, of course, my coffee mug bearing a favorite quote of Edison, “There’s always a better way. Find it!”

"I've not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." ~Thomas A. Edison

87 year old Banyan Tree. Roots begin above ground, grow, then  connect and root into the earth. They look like small  trunks. What you see in the photo are roots of the Banyan.

After 6 nights of restful, low-key, low-cost bliss, we headed for Disney World with the happiest child on earth in tow. The photos tell the rest of the story. With ear-to-ear smiles, we never waited in a single line, and Abi rode every ride she wanted to ride as many times as she wanted. We saw every show we wanted to see. The weather was beautiful hovering between 65 and 75 degrees.  We dined with every Disney character known to man, and then some. We got photos and/or video with most of them. We paraded with them. We shopped for Disney stuff like Abi’s Minnie Mouse costume, and her Luau get-up (both of which she nearly wore out over the following year,) and for my coffee mug which I had to retire for a few years after chipping it.

Eeyore & Abi

Piglet & Abi

Pooh & Abi

Tigger, Abi, and me

Daisy, Abi, me, and Donald

White Rabbit & Abi

Abi, Mickey, & me

Minnie & Abi

101 Dalmations

Abi in her Luau attire at The Polynesian

Here’s how I know that place really is magical. Most folks know that I do not enjoy overspending.  Yet, I hemorrhaged money at Walt Disney World, and, to this day, when I look through the pictures and recall my child’s utter delight with everything there-- when I reflect upon holding her clammy, little hands for hours on end as we traipsed through Magic Kingdom from open to close, I can’t help but smile, and thank God for those $20. hotdogs.