We met my bà ngoại in Disney World. Is there a better place
to meet her when we live far apart? I don’t think so. At least not when I’m
two-and-a-half years old. It was three months ago that my parents planned the event.
Who knows how long it took them. Bà didn’t have to plan because she was happy
to do whatever we wanted. All she had to do was to arrange her vacation and
book her plane ticket. We took care of the rest. By we, I mean G&L, my handsome,
ambitious, and adoring parents.
We spent the first four days with Bà and visited all four
Disney parks: Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios – in
that order. I made sure I was in my best charming self. It worked most of the
time, at least that’s what Bà thinks. She likes to snap pictures of me.
She also snaps pictures of Mama sometimes. She likes this
picture because Mama’s dress matches colors with the dinosaur and the sun in
Dinoland.
There I rode the TriceraTop Spin with Mama while Bà went by
herself on the Primeval Whirl which has a height requirement I didn’t meet. She
claimed that it was not as fun as she remembered riding it with Mama last year.
She did enjoy the Expedition Everest, however, but she had a lot more fun when
she went with Dada than when she went by herself. She said there was no point
of screaming when she was alone. I empathize.
We walked the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail, twice in
fact, once without Dada and once with Dada, where we saw gorillas, hippos,
zebras, okapis, muskrats, monkeys, turtles, lizards, toads, and fish. I love
fishies, if you must know.
The Wildlife Express Train took us to the petting yard at
the Affection Section where I brushed goats and sheep.
We learned that the bald eagles are no longer endangered and
watched exotic birds fly, sing, and play tricks at the Flights of Wonder bird
show. A flock of white birds flew out of nowhere in unison and created a rush
of air overhead. The exciting thing for Dada was that he got to be on stage
with another volunteer. They didn’t have to do anything but sit there prettily
and watch an owl fly to a spot right above their heads. I could have done that
even better.
Not to let Dada have all the glory to himself, I got on
stage myself at the Festival of the Lion King show. It was an experience to
parade in front of hundreds of adoring fans; you should try it if you have a
chance. I relished every moment of fame, although I acted shy at first so Mama
didn’t think I was eager to leave her. Dada videotaped me so I can watch it
again and again and tell my grandchildren about
it.
Other shows we watched included Finding Nemo and It’s
Tough to be a Bug. My ambitious parents wanted me to go on the Kali River
Rapids raft ride so badly that they padded my heels so I could qualify. We
“traveled through the turbulent rivers of a jungle landscape.” I think it was
totally worth it.
We ate dinner at Jiko, Mama’s favorite restaurant of
all the ones we’ve eaten at. Bà had a St. George beer in honor of Dada and we all
enjoyed the grilled wild boar tenderloin and smoked salmon appertizers. The parade
and fireworks at Magic Kingdom were pretty magic, but that was not our last
thing. We rode the Haunted Mansion before retiring for the first day.
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