because pg 2 4-13-23

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Category: Current Issue

I have never really been a rollercoaster/spinney-ride person. I tried a mild (by today’s standards) rollercoaster when I was young and ended up depositing the contents of my stomach into a nearby trash barrel. Since then, I only enjoy a good ‘slow paced’ ride experience and will unequivocally always heed the posted warnings of ‘Those who are prone to motion sickness, should NOT ride’. That is … until recently.
By all accounts, if you are a fan of the movie Avatar and find yourself visiting Animal Kingdom at Disney World, it is highly recommended that you should experience the ride called ‘Flight of Passage’. My sister is SUCH a fan and, since we were going to be in Disney, she very much wanted to go on the ride.
For me, I was happy going on the nearby slow-paced river boat ride, but I wanted to give her the opportunity to experience a ride that others had referred to as awesome and magical! My loving and kind sister understood that I did NOT want to go on this motion sickness-inducing ride and offered to skip it … But I didn’t want her to skip it since she had ‘skipped it’ the last time we went and, more importantly, I wanted to find a way to experience it with her … and so, I decided to do my homework about the ride.
My daughter (experienced in the ride) informed me that the motion wasn’t like a rollercoaster but more like a simulator. I interrogated her further about what ‘precisely’ were the hardware mechanics of the ride, and she explained that the drops and turns were relatively mild, but that the large 3-D screen video SIGNIFICANTLY enhanced the motion feelings. I asked her if I could simply shut my eyes and be okay? She considered that I probably would be but that I would also (in shutting my eyes) MISS the whole point of the magic and thrill and beauty of the ride! Personally, I felt that if my sister could experience all of that with me by her side (whilst keeping my breakfast in my tummy), then I would, indeed, feel the magic of the ride.  
In preparing to experience the ‘Flight of Passage’ ride with my sister I considered that I had one final task to accomplish: I needed to actually SEE what it was I was going to be missing. I decided to YouTube the video of the experience. From the comfort and safety of my own stationary couch, I enjoyed watching the video of the (less than 4 minutes) ride and even watched it twice so that I could remember it better. And when the moment finally came to enter the queue for the ride, my preparations meant that I was able to ignore the motion-sickness warning signs and confidently strap myself onto my Banshee riding vehicle. I even put on the 3-D goggles and leaned in appropriately as I awaited the countdown.
As the ride began, my eyes might have been shut tightly but I could still ‘see’ and, therefore, experience my sister’s complete and utter joy and delight…
Accomplishment. Accomplishment
Kathy Naumann, possessor of NATURALLY curly hair and the understanding that you can’t control everything!

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