Clinton & I each planned a Valentine’s date this year. We are both “experience” people & while we may buy something small for each other (except for the year he bought me my gun, that was a BIG purchase!), we usually do dinner somewhere nice & have a proper date. This year, I was drawing a blank on what I wanted to do for him – I had been originally thinking of us going to the Kennedy Space Center for a day of nerding out over rockets (we are both big space nerds) but it also occurred to me that Clinton has never been to Disney. Not that he’s ever asked me to go but I’ve always wanted to take him! I think EVERYONE should go to Disney at least once in their life if for nothing else than to appease your inner child. 

So, while on one of my trips a couple weeks ago I was flying with my sweet friend Eduardo & I mentioned it in passing to him – “I think I’m gonna take my husband to Disney next weekend! He’s never been. I think when we get to the hotel tonight I’m gonna check out tickets…” but then when we got to Newark that night and I actually began looking at ticket prices, I was SHOCKED! Now, mind you, the last time I went to Disney was 2018 & I went for a special event so my ticket was only $90. Well, how times have changed…

For Clinton & I to go to Disney for ONE DAY with our Florida resident “discount” PLUS I wanted to add on the park hopper option…it was going to cost us $488 total. Disney, I love you, but that is obscene. I said to myself “Oh hell no” & clicked off the Disney tab on my phone with a quickness but figured I hadn’t said anything to Clinton about my idea so it’s not like he had his hopes up for anything. 

The next day on our flight home, Eduardo was gushing “So you’re taking your husband to Disney?!” to which I responded “NOT ANYMORE!” & explained the pricing to him. He said “Oh! I thought you had annual passes & were going!” and then he did the kindest thing – he told me that we could use his friends & family passes that he & his husband get yearly. Of course, I said no. He said yes. I told him we couldn’t possibly do that. He told me they don’t have a lot of family & friends local so the passes often go unused. I ask if I can at least pay him for the tickets. He says that’s not allowed & to just take them and enjoy. I’m starting to get worn down a little by his persistence. I’m still asking questions as he takes his phone out & shows me the booking process. Before I know it, he made us reservations! Only 2 parks had availability for a reservation at opening so it was between Hollywood Studios & Animal Kingdom – I’d never been to HS myself so we chose that one to start.

We were going to Disney! For free! I was so giddy to tell Clinton about this but was still totally humbled by Eduardo’s kindness so I was still offering to pay or at least take him & his husband to dinner. He refused all my advances and just told me to enjoy our day at Disney! 

I would not call Clint or myself a Disney adult at all but we have Disney+ & enjoy theme parks, stuff like that, but as time ticked on, Clinton got super excited to go! Momma Kat kept Emma for us for the day & we left dark & early for Orlando! We had breakfast at a spot we like by our old apartment & then made our way to Hollywood Studios to meet up with Eduardo’s husband for the passes. 

As soon as they opened the gates I pulled up the app to see which areas we should hit first – we decided on the new(ish) Star Wars area. Rise of the Resistance already had a 50 minute wait so we decided to knock it out first! The wait went by extremely fast & we really enjoyed the ride. Clint talked to everyone & their mother while we waited. We both like our rides a bit more extreme than anything Disney has to offer but as I kept telling him – ya go to Disney for the experience, not necessarily thrills. We walked around the Star Wars area afterwards & played with souvenirs, bought some of the cool Coke & Sprite bottles, & decided we were going to Toy Story land next!

I absolutely loved Toy Story land because it’s so dang cute. We took a picture with one of the green army men & she said “First time huh? Well, welcome to the backyard!” – the whole area had giant wooden fencing around it like you really were playing with toys in a back yard! Super cute touch! We got in line for Slinky Dog Dash & that took for-freakin-ever but oh what a fun ride! My favorite that we got to of the day! We stood in line for nearly 2 hours for that ride! Sadly, we were unable to purchase lightning lane passes with our friends & family pass. From there we found Woody, Buzz, & Jesse but decided against waiting in line for a picture with them so I just snapped some of them between guests.

We went shopping and I bought Clint his first set of ears – they are red & sparkly with a little top hat & feather on them for Dumbo. They are super cute & I can wear them too! I was wearing my Maleficent ears/horns even though they are my Halloween ears. I don’t think it matters really. We tried about a dozen different ears on him before he picked those. I was very adamant that he leave with Mickey ears before the day was done! I even bought them. Actually we made a deal – he bought all food & drinks while I bought the souvenirs. Somehow we came out even! We stopped & got 2 smoothies & watched a skit in the park with Donald and Daisy then made our way to a show with Lightning McQueen! That show was not only cute but a welcome break because it was inside, air conditioned, & sorta dark. As we were making our way to the Tower of Terror, we got suckered right into having a caricature photo of Emma drawn for us! We had them draw her as Belle from Beauty & the Beast because Belle is my favorite princess (she’s a bookworm like me & of all the princesses, she looks most like me haha) That caricature is the cutest fucking thing I’ve ever spent money on in my life. I told Clinton “Ya know. When people think of us, I hope they think to themselves – ‘wow, those 2 really live their lives 100% unapologetically themselves’ & if that means we’re out here buying weird caricature art of our dog then so be it”

Afterwards we made our way to Epcot for lunch at the World’s Showcase because it was finally time that we could park hop! We took the sky lift which was really nice. My first time on that as well! When we got to Epcot the first thing we did was have our photos taken with Minnie and Daisy! There were no lines for them & we literally just strolled right up! We were literally 2 children in those moments. They both hugged us & posed for tons of photos. Daisy was obsessed with Clinton & a bit smitten. I’d say the feeling was mutual – he kissed her hand. I was horrified! I shrieked out “BABE YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO TOUCH THE CAST MEMBERS!” to which the cast member taking our photos said “If Daisy extends her hand to him it’s fine!” & as we walked away she told us “Donald is in Mexico (the Mexico pavilion at Epcot) – you guys go find him & tell him Daisy wants a ring!” I took her way too seriously & said “Okay we’ll do that!” It didn’t even click with me that she was joking!!

This is when the raging hunger kicked in & we strolled around until we found somewhere without a crazy wait to eat! Barbecue in the USA pavilion. Go figure. All that food to choose from but honestly we were starving & in dire need of just getting to sit for a little while! We barely spent any time at Epcot (I love Epcot, we just had other plans) so we took the boat to one of the resorts & caught a bus to Animal Kingdom. This was our 3rd & final park today – we will just have to do Magic Kingdom another time but I feel like we went to the 3 parks Clinton would enjoy most! 

We only had one thing on our agenda here – a safari. Then we could do whatever else! The safaris were set to stop in about half an hour so we booked it over there to get in line. Luckily there was nearly no wait! I think this was by far his favorite part & definitely one of my favorite things to do as well. We are both big animal lovers! We saw nearly all the animals, even the lions which I’ve heard can be a bit antisocial. Animal Kingdom is such an underrated park really. The Everest ride is such a good ride there too!

When all was said & done, we made our way back to Hollywood Studios to get the car & head back home. We were good & tired, tan, & one of us sweat through his shirt…but it was a truly magical day! I wish we’d had lightning lane passes so we could’ve rode more rides but the few that we did get under our belts were fantastic! I really do love experiencing new things with my man. I’m always thinking of new places we can go or new things for us to do – someone wrote on my Facebook one day that we’re always doing something fun. I’m proud of that! Life is so short & I just want to spend my time enjoying it with those I love. I spend so much time away from home because of my job that I truly covet my time at home with my man & my girl. 

I am so beyond thankful to Eduardo & his wonderful husband for a fun day at the parks! We are very blessed!

We spent around $125 between the 2 of us for a full day including a meal, snacks, cold drinks, & 2 souvenirs! I call that a win! 

Next Saturdaze post is about Clint’s Valentines date that he picked! It was a doozy…

– Autumn