Showing posts with label Epcot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Epcot. Show all posts
At the same time though, I have traveled enough while I fought for my health to know that you don't "leave" your sick body and automatically get a "new one" so it is important to understand and prepare ahead of time for any trip when you are chronically ill. Traveling takes a risk and a courage- especially when you don't feel well, but when I was sick I wanted to live as fully as possible despite being sick. I wanted to grab onto life and experience it and live bigger than my world of illness allowed.
I have never regretted this for one moment and know that it is a large part of the reason that I still love traveling today and going on adventures near and far away!
So if you are taking that risk... if you are stepping out and grabbing onto life in a new way and are going for a visit to Disney World while you are ill I applaud you. I applaud you for any small or big steps you are taking as you heal.
If you are looking for extra tips for your trip I shared a post a couple of years ago entitled 10 Tips for Enjoying Disneyworld with a Chronic Illness that may be helpful to read. I have also shared other chronic illness tips (those related to Disney and beyond) which I share at the bottom of this post!
If you are looking for extra tips for your trip I shared a post a couple of years ago entitled 10 Tips for Enjoying Disneyworld with a Chronic Illness that may be helpful to read. I have also shared other chronic illness tips (those related to Disney and beyond) which I share at the bottom of this post!
Today I wanted to share 4 Tips specifically related to enjoying Epcot with a chronic illness and hope that these will help you in your next adventure!
1. Plan your Meal Times Ahead of Time
If part of your Chronic Illness includes a special diet (like myself) you will want to research ahead of time which restaurants are allergen friendly. One of the great things about Epcot is the choices of "allergen friendly" restaurants and options that they have. One thing that I love about Epcot is the very large amount of restaurants that there are to choose from (in my opinion it is a bit simpler to find a variety of different choices then in Magic Kingdom Park sometimes!) and it is great for those who have a chronic illness for a few specific reasons:
1. Many "spoonies" like myself try to eat a healthy diet and whether you go "around the world" or just eat at "the land" there are tons of different and yummy health options.
2. For those who have lots of dietary restrictions like myself, there really is a restaurant for everyone. I have eaten in so many different countries and at the land so many times and there are so many options! One of the things that I most appreciate about my experiences at Epcot is that staff members are knowledgeable, helpful, and know all the details. This makes it incredibly easy to choose something yummy and safe within my dietary restrictions without making a big production of anything.
3. I have to say that one of the things that I mentioned in my post, 10 Tips for enjoying Disney With a Chronic Illness, is the weather and heat factor. For some that are struggling with a chronic illness heat is extremely difficult and Epcot provides different sit-down air conditioned restaurants (even in the land) which is a great bonus.
2. Plan a Route
One of the best tips if you are trying to conserve energy to enjoy as much as you can is to plan out a route for Epcot. For those struggling with a chronic illness the large scope of the world showcase can be daunting and planning a route can be incredibly helpful.
3. Stay with Your Group as Much as Possible
One of the things that I really enjoyed at Epcot was having the opportunity to hang out with my friends up till the moment that they got on a ride that I couldn't ride. I see this happen a lot at Disney and it deserves to be mentioned here also. Epcot is great about this too! They encourage you to spend time with your loved ones and you can easily exit (without having to go back through the whole line) when your party goes to get on a ride. I know that at some theme parks this isn't an option, but at Epcot it is, and is wonderful that you don't miss out on time with people.
4. Enjoy the Shows and Presentations
One of the unique parts of Epcot is the plethora of shows and presentations that are available to the visitor. For a lot of "spoonies" this can be a wonderful gift as it can give you a chance to sit down and rest a bit while you and your group are still enjoying the park!
If you are looking for additional tips for enjoying Disney with a Chronic Illness you can find my posts here:
One of the things that I really enjoyed at Epcot was having the opportunity to hang out with my friends up till the moment that they got on a ride that I couldn't ride. I see this happen a lot at Disney and it deserves to be mentioned here also. Epcot is great about this too! They encourage you to spend time with your loved ones and you can easily exit (without having to go back through the whole line) when your party goes to get on a ride. I know that at some theme parks this isn't an option, but at Epcot it is, and is wonderful that you don't miss out on time with people.
One of the unique parts of Epcot is the plethora of shows and presentations that are available to the visitor. For a lot of "spoonies" this can be a wonderful gift as it can give you a chance to sit down and rest a bit while you and your group are still enjoying the park!
If you are looking for additional tips for enjoying Disney with a Chronic Illness you can find my posts here:
Looking for tips on traveling with a chronic illness in general? Click on the helpful and practical tips below:
Looking for other Disney Related Content? Click on the Links Below:
Looking for information on the Disney Dream Cruise? Click on the posts below:
Happy Tuesday friends! I hope that you have a wonderful day!
The day started bright and early and after our incredibly fun and delicious evening at Il Mulino Restaurant (you can read about it HERE) I admit that I was a bit sleepy. Hahaha. Our plan of leaving "really early" was a bit delayed by me and I so appreciated the grace from these people. After we got going, we were thrilled though to see that there wasn't much traffic and it was easy to navigate to the parks without to many crowds.
We decided to park at Magic Kingdom (since we were going to finish our day there watching the new firework show) and took the monorail over to Epcot to start our day. As we road the monorail into the park and circled a bit of Epcot we could see the early morning activities were starting.
Every time that I step back onto the Disney properties I am hit with the beautiful nostalgia and charm that is unique to Disney. There is a classy and timeless sense of consistency that draws a child and adult alike into a different world that gently reminds us to dream big in our lives.
We started our day in the future world in Epcot (future world opened a couple of hours before the world showcase on this day) and had fun riding in spaceship earth, visiting the ride behind the land, and then riding Soarin. Have y'all been on Soarin recently? I hadn't done the ride in years and they have changed some of the pictures and it was incredible to "soar" over different parts of the world.
After spending a few more minutes in future world and riding Nemo, we made a slight detour in our plans so that I could connect with Anna, a former student from my teaching days in Georgia. Anna was working in Magic Kingdom and so we headed over to there on the monorail. I am not sure how I didn't grab a picture with her, but it was such an incredible blessing to get to spend a few moments with her and give that beautiful lady a huge hug. We also had the opportunity to meet a couple of princesses, which as I am sure y'all know, I thought was adorable. *smiles* After this we snapped a few pictures before the three of us decided to head to Animal Kingdom for the afternoon.
As we walked down main street on the way to the bus transportation I admit that I had tears. I felt that as I heard all of the happy music, was laughing with these dear ones that are in my life, and seeing Anna I felt a weird juxtaposition. I was incredibly grateful at the recent good news of how much I am healing and yet seeing Anna reminded me of how much had been lost and robbed during this season with Lyme.
When I left teaching Anna's class were in their sophomore year of high school and were incredibly dear to my little heart and this trip provided the opportunity to see a couple of my former students from that class. As I looked at them now on this trip high school had passed and they were about to complete college. Life in all of its mysteries and time had continued for all of us. I was so thrilled that both Anna and Robert took time out of their lives to spend a few moments with a former teacher and honestly the whole thing just overwhelmed me. It is hard to put into words, and I can't tell you how much I appreciated Ali and Paul's incredible understanding and compassion as tears fell for a little bit as we waited for the bus to Animal Kingdom.
And perhaps... just perhaps... that is the beautiful thing about visiting Disney. It removes you from your life for a time- no matter how brief (in this case one day) and gives you a bit of magic and laughter to take back. It gives a reminder that dreams can come true. It reminds you that there is a great big world beyond the difficult circumstances that you are imagining. It reminds you to keep dreaming big. All beautiful things that my little heart needed... and experiencing it with gracious and kind people who never rushed me, took extra time to rest again and again throughout the day, and continuously surrounded me with love was the most beautiful gift of all. And perhaps... that is the greatest take away from the day... that love and grace are the biggest miracles... reminding us to constantly dream.
I truly couldn't have asked for a more perfect start to the day at Epcot and seeing the Magic Kingdom briefly with these dear ones. I can't wait to share more with y'all about the rest of the day in the next few days!!
** A HUGE thank you to Walt Disney World for the complimentary tickets to enjoy the parks for the day. You truly gave me a beautiful gift with friends that I will treasure forever!! All opinions are my own.**
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