My husband and I, aren’t the most conventional vacationers. We prefer the solitude of a private beach, a cabin deep in the woods, or an island far removed from civilization. Our kids have also inherited my husband’s detest of crowds and long lines. Disney Land seemed like a stretch for us but we planned the trip anyone since neither of us have ever gone.
To our surprise, we had an awesome time! We had no hiccups, no major injuries and no accidents to report which is a rarity with children. Even the one mistake I made, worked out to our benefit. We showed up an hour early to the park and ended up being first in line. That meant, a countdown to the park opening and a line free character experience with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Pluto. Even as adults, we felt the magic! Goofy even kidnapped our children and skipped all around the square with them.
I’ve been a Star Wars fan since I was a little girl. I still remember how excited I was the first time my parents rented “Return of the Jedi” for me. After our character experience, we rushed over to Tomorrowland. Our first stop was to get our picture with Chewbacca. We all hugged the big furry Wookiee and our youngest daughter was so enthralled with him, I wasn’t sure we’d be able to leave. Then we met Darth Vader.
When I first caught sight of the tall, darkly dressed villain, I was overcome with such excitement, that I rushed over to him with my arms outstretched. I was going to hug Darth Vader! The character who instilled so much imagination and fear into my little childhood mind! As I prepared to throw my arm around him, he promptly hold up his hands, halting me. He breaks into character and turns away from me, to start terrorizing my children. Ummm…awkward!
My daughters spend the next few minutes, running around the room, trying to hide as he proceeds to recruit them to the dark side. To be honest, he freaked me out as well.
My youngest turns to me and says, “Mom, it’s the real Darth Vader!”
I promptly reply. “You’re right honey! I think he is.”
I never was able to get my Darth Vader hug but we did have good laugh over the whole incident, making it a truly memorable vacation.
