Disney World | 6 Months!

Super Bowl tradition has someone in the media asking the MVP, “Hey, you just won the super bowl. What are you going to do next?” With excited the athlete replies, “I’m going to Disneyland.” For me, it can be phrased, “Hey Paul, you just got a heart transplant. What are you doing next?” I'd make the same reply.

Six months ago yesterday I survived congenital heart disease and received a donor heart from a wonderful human being who I think about every hour of every day.

Photo: Mickey, Lynnette, Eden, Me, Minnie

One of our goals if I lived through the surgery was to take Eden to Disneyworld in Florida and enjoy a week of rides, treats, no technology, and endless fun.

Mission accomplished.

With all the fun we had the usual moments of an over-stimulated child who was trying to take in all of the thrills, chills, people, and waiting in line, but in the end she simply can’t stop talking about what we experienced.

After climbing nearly 10,000 feet in the air our 4 year old looked out the window to see hundreds of clouds below the airplane and she curiously asked, “Are we upside down?”

Photo: Eden meeting a fellow Princess

Another honest remark from Eden came after she insisted we go on Hollywood Studios’ Tower of Terror or Twilight Zone ride (watch a video). You enter a haunted building and sit on benches, which takes you into a dark elevator shaft where you climb a hundred feet and when you are not expecting it, the shaft drops and it feels like you are free falling. Then in the dark, pitch black with a loud sound system of music and haunted noise, you go up and down, up and down all over again. Both Lynnette and I had no idea what this was. The sign at the entrance said a person 40 inches high could ride the tower. The park should probably clarify if the 40 inches refers to little people or children also? Needless to say, her insistence in going on an unknown ride put her through quiet an ordeal. Her sweet little innocence has experienced something wild and new. For me, I loved the ride, but Eden said with some frustration, “Let’s not do that again!” Of coarse, upon getting home and seeing cousins and friends that’s all she talks about. “You would be way scared,” she says… We won’t forget the tower of terror.

We made up for the tower by going on Splash Mountain and the Big Thunder Railroad various times at the Magic Kingdom resorts along with visiting Typhoon Lagoon, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and more. Eden loved these rides and was anxious to return in a long line to do them again. Interesting how we are patient for some things we know and understand and not as patient at times for the unknown events in our lives.

Photo: Taking Eden into the Typhoon Lagoon

Aside from the rides and crowds, on a personal level I was enthralled with the amount of energy I had to walk all over the various parks for the past week carrying a backpack and at times Eden on my shoulders. I enjoyed working out at the GYM and stretching my limits to prepare my body for my next adventure climbing Mount Olympus in honor of my brother Brian. The endurance I experienced on this trip was helpful and motivating in my realization I can do this. I can climb Mount Olympus in 90 days!

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