The family vacation to St. Augustine Florida, the flight into Orlando, was too tempting for some family members to drive past Disney World and not partake.
We succumbed.
To the Disney magic that is.
Each time I go, I think it's the last. Long lines, shocking- expensive, and the artificial world.
Each time, I think how I'd rather be in a cabin on a real lake, in a real treehouse instead of the Swiss Family Robinson’s—on a real island with rock caves instead of fictitious, though fun, Tom Sawyer Island caves.
But then we start a new day at Animal Kingdom. We float down the Navi River among mystical beings, fantastical patterns of light, and parachute plants—and the music makes my heart swell.
Maybe Disney does it better than nature can?
That thought is fleeting. For the heat, the children who have to wait while the parents switch on the adult rides tire, the parents who must deal with them,--this is a kind of paradise, but one I don't want.
In the late afternoon, two days at Disney done, we arrive at the ocean. The swells, the view, the salt water healing my tired feet; the one year old who crawls into the waves and refuses to stop. The hesitant toddler who takes her time until she laughs at the low surf. The twelve year old on a boogie board, and watching a son-in-law and his three children in the surf, and catching waves with Margo.
There are no lines, no seat belts restraining a child in the stroller, no crowds to lose the children in. Disney can never do better than nature.
And next time one of my children asks us if we want to go to the Magic Kingdom, I will suggest a hike in the forest.
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