Disney I

I was recently in Walt Disney World, recently being May 2009, but that’s too far in the past for me. I went with my brother and my parents, all of whom are sighted. Another thing I did before going to the airport, I had a ball-tip on the end of my cane but I changed it for the marshmallow tip because I didn’t want to get detained if security thought that the ball was filled with something. I don’t know if they would have but I’d rather be safe then spend 3 hours in an airport while they got a doctor’s report saying yes Joe Taticchi is legally-blind.

We arrived at the airport on time, on time being 4am, but I wasn’t complaining because I like to fly and we were going to Walt Disney World. We went through security, which is always pleasant, especially the part where they tell me to fold up my cane and put it in the bin that goes through separately. You would think that they’d be able to scan a cane and figure out that, “yes, it’s just an aid for a visually-impaired/blind person.” I suppose, however, when babies are put on the no-fly list, that would be too much to hope for. Then we went to the waiting area, it didn’t seem to be that long. When our flight was called we boarded with everyone else, only to find out that other people, with a disability were on the plane first. In our experience airlines have called first for people that need extra time to board, apparently Southwest does not do this or because it was a charter they did not. I put my cane in the seat pocket and the flight attendants didn’t have a problem with that. I’d like to say that I don’t especially need to have my cane with me all the time or board early; my thought is more for the people that are completely blind or have so much vision loss that it makes no difference. Of course since the no-fly list was created and new security put in place, I don’t want to complain too loudly lest I either be detained long enough to miss my flight or be put on the no-fly list because I’m annoying. I’ve seen examples on TV of investigative reporters who, although no one ever proved it, seemed to appear on the no-fly list because they did their job too well.

We had an uneventful flight; even though I like to look out the plane’s windows, I never see very much. The thing that I can’t do though is sit by one of the emergency exits because I can’t assist anyone. For anyone who’s seen Get Smart the movie, I can do what Max did and fall out of the plane without a parachute but that’s about it. The plane touched down on time and I probably had a very large smile on my face. As part of our package the bags were taken to the hotel separately, and we went there by bus. Getting there is the fun part; it’s the leaving that sucks.

Next, will be check-in and thanks for reading.