Chapter 50: I Wish I May, I Wish I Might... Maybe Have Just One More Night!!
Billy and Tricia had so much fun that once the teacups stopped spinning, they immediately begged for a second ride! I was getting queasy just watching them go
around and
around and
around, but Tricia shouted to us that she felt fine. Then Billy chimed in, “Again! Again!” It was their last night; how could I say no?
There was hardly any line, so the operator just let them stay seated in their giant cup. Billy was bouncing up and down in the seat; and as they began to spin slowly, he begged for Tricia to help him spin the wheel even faster! Off they went on another dizzying ride! Ed and I just shook our heads at each other and laughed. Ughh, we would be
so ill! 
Thankfully, as the kids exited the
Mad Tea Party, they seemed oblivious to the friction with Aunt Rae. I decided to do the same and just put as much emotional distance between us as possible. It wasn’t that difficult to do with all the magical distractions of FantasyLand surrounding us. Let her sulk if she wanted to, I was going to enjoy this last night with Ed and the kids
no matter what!
Wow! It was eight o’clock already! The first
Spectro would be starting, so I figured we had maybe time for one more attraction before we needed to position ourselves for
Wishes. Now, which one should we choose?
A voice piped up,
“Mickey’s PhilharMagic, pleeeese!!” Billy had made our decision easy!
It was a good choice, really. It was something we could all enjoy; it was loads of fun, there was no spinning, no moving floor, and no need to talk to AR during the show!
No one was in the queue, so we breezed right by all the posters and picked up our opera glasses. Minnie very sweetly informed us that the concert would begin shortly, so Tricia decided to break out the remaining light-up necklaces for herself and for Billy.
House Lights On:
(She was getting tired of having her picture taken, I think!)
House Lights Off:
We found good seats in the center…so nice not to have such a crowded theater…and proceeded to enjoy the songs, the special effects, and the 3D chaos caused by Donald Duck. What a great show!
No time to dawdle, though. It was time to find a viewing spot for
Wishes!
The parade had passed through the Hub on its way to Main Street, but the crowd remained thick as guests kept their places for the impending fireworks. Now we could see why FantasyLand had been so empty! Hmm. Where to go? I thought we might try to head over to TomorrowLand; last year we viewed
Wishes from FantasyLand, I thought we missed a lot of the lower fireworks. It hadn’t been crowded there, but the experience had lost something.
It would be sheer madness to attempt crossing the Hub, so we went around through FantasyLand on our way to TomorrowLand. The bridge was jammed,
so that was out. Aunt Rae was getting pretty wobbly and I practically held my breath thinking she would take a header at any moment. Perhaps it was a
good thing that we were forced by the crowd to move at a slow pace!
Our destination was the
TomorrowLand Terrace Noodle Station. I had heard that it was a good spot for those who didn't feel it was necessary to be directly in front of the Castle to get a good view. It was crowded there, for sure, and there were, of course, no tables to be had but we were able to find a decent place to stand by a low wall. A family sitting at one of the tables had several bags placed on one chair and Ed asked if we could have it for Aunt Rae. She protested loudly, but the family gladly gave her the chair since no one in their party was using it.
Well, now that we had it, Ed insisted that she sit. She seemed to be annoyed and embarrassed, but in the end she realized the practicality of the situation and was persuaded to get off of her feet. “I can’t see anything,” she complained, and indeed, she was so short that she could not see over the wall.
“Well, just sit until the fireworks start and then stand up!” advised Tricia, very matter-of-factly. Thankfully, she had not prefaced her comment with “Duh, Aunt Rae,” although it certainly would have been applicable!
Ed pulled out the
earplugs for Billy, who was so used to them now that he barely fidgeted at all while his Daddy squished them and placed them in his ears. We were ready!
Sigh. So wonderful! 
Suddenly, I felt the full impact of our leaving the next day. Perhaps it hadn’t been such a good idea to save this for the last night; it was truly bittersweet. I held back the tears as we gathered our things and began walking. Our time in the Magic Kingdom was drawing to an end, but there was still
one more spectacular bit of fantasy left….my favorite of all the nighttime Disney offerings….
the
SpectroMagic Parade!
Kathy
I will talk more about the ARF in my epilogue.
(Oh wait, you're too young to remember him!) 
tto my face!
How did that happen?!
