My triumphant return to parks?

It's been awhile, but I'm thinking about passholder life once more

I think the sentiment “absence makes the heart grow fonder” is absolutely true, but it can be easy to forget, especially when you’ve got the type of obsessive brain that craves more, more, more, of anything you find particularly interesting. I’m a person who gets addicted easily when the right buttons are pushed; I don’t fall in love often, but when I do, everyone knows about it.

I took three years off from visiting the Orlando theme parks. I think the last time I went to Disney might have been November 2020. There were a lot of reasons I made no effort to visit - I was busy with a new property, I was three hours away instead of five minutes, and the way the systems kept getting more complicated and pricey (Genie+, reservations, blah blah blah) I really didn’t want to go. I didn’t feel like I was missing any changes I’d find positive.

But about two weeks ago, a friend took me to Magic Kingdom on a guest pass, and we had such a good time. No, I didn’t have to fiddle with the reservation system and I didn’t even glance at Genie+, but we are people happy with the simple things: Country Bear Jamboree, The Enchanted Tiki Room, wandering through Fantasyland, a Mickey pretzel eaten along the Rivers of America, watching the water tumble over the wheel of The Old Mill. And of course, a resort launch cruise to the Polynesian for a delicious dinner at Captain Cook’s, eaten outside to the sound of splashing in the neighboring pool.

I don’t go to parks for rides. I go for atmosphere. And the atmosphere at Walt Disney World continues to be top-notch.

So, I’m seriously considering buying the base Florida resident pass, which is good on most weekdays. It has blackouts for Spring Break and Christmas week, time periods I’d never, ever considering visiting a theme park anyway, and I’m not really a fan of weekends either, so it feels like the pass made for me.

I like the idea of driving down to Orlando once or twice a month, soaking up that atmosphere, walking around and listening to chatter, and getting ideas for new additions to the Theme Park Adventures novels.

And by the way, I’m just about ready to start putting the revision touches on Confessions of a Theme Park Princess that will have it ready to package as a full-length book next year. And I have an outline for Meet Me at Promise Mountain, the sequel to You Must Be This Tall that retains all the characters from the first book. I’ll probably start work on that in January, when I’m finished with my equestrian novel, Outside Rein.

I’ll share Meet Me at Promise Mountain here, just like I did Confessions. I’ll also share it on Ream, which is my subscription site for ALL my writing (romance, equestrian, women’s fiction, you name it). If you’re interested in checking that out, it’s at reamstories.com/nataliekreinert.

Also, through the end of this month I have a coupon code good for three months at 50% off: AWH23. So if you like what you see, use that to save some money on whichever tier you like.

No matter where you’re reading, I look forward to sharing more theme park goodness with you in the coming months! Thanks for sticking with me, and thanks so much for reading my work, wherever you find it.

xo

Natalie