Riding Roller Coasters After Breaking My Neck
[Cole] Alright, this is the beginning of the second video covering our experience here at Disney, and we’ve got a lot of fun planned today and tomorrow. Today is going to be more chill, more relaxed. It’s going to be the more adult side of Disney. And then tomorrow we’re going to do Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, which is going to be a blast also. But the first thing on the dockett, we have Sangria University. So we’re going to be making some sangrias babe.
Are you ready? Oh, yeah! It’s going to be a lot of fun. Let’s check it out. We get food.
[Charisma] Wow… [Cole] That did not go well. [Charisma] Orange. [Cole] Two oranges? [Charisma] With… two raspberries. That’s my sangria. [Cole] Ooooh… That’s good. [Professor] We’ve got Cole? [Cole] Yes! [Professor] Here you go.
*applause* [Charisma] Charisma? Yes, thank you! [Armando] Thank you. [Cole] Alright, so one of the special experiences that Disney planned for us during our day at Disney Springs was checking out The Ganachery. So we’re going to meet with some of the chefs here, right? The chefs? [Charisma] Mmhmm. [Cole] And, uh, it looks like it’s a chocolate shop, so I guess we have some delicious chocolate in store. Charisma loves chocolate. I do, too.
So I’m excited for what this is. I’ve never done something like this before, so… We’re at The Ganachery! Here we go! Why, thank you, sir. [Cast member] Welcome to The Ganachery! [Cole] Hello! Thank you. Amanda was just telling us about The Ganachery here. They make everything in house and one of their specialties is a s’more.
So they have, like, sea salt, there’s chocolate on there, toasted s’more- or toasted marshmallow, I mean. So we’re going to try one of those and I’m ready for it. I think it’s going to be delicious. This is going to be so decadent, I’m ready for it. Oh, the sprinkles! [Charisma] Is that sugar? [Chef Amanda] It’s actually sea salt.
And the chocolate you see on top is our own custom blend dark chocolate. [Cole] Oh my gosh. [Charisma] That’s awesome. Oh, the ears! [Cole] Aw, the Mickeys on top. How are we going to eat this? [Charisma] It’s going to take a little bit of, uh- It’s going to be messy… But I’m okay with that. [Chef Amanda] We heard that you guys are celebrating your honeymoon? [Charisma & Cole] Yes! [Chef Amanda] So we made a couple special treat pops for you! [Charisma] I love that! Thank you! [Chef Amanda] And then there’s two more inside.
[Charisma] You ready, Cole? [Cole] Yeah. Alright, here’s the first bite. Oh, wow. [Charisma] That’s really good.
Your face… Look at his face! This is really good! [Cole] Let me get a bite on that side. [Charisma] It’s falling apart. It’s really good, it’s just messy. Are you choking?! [Cole] I inhaled the powdered sugar! Oh, man. [Charisma] Are you good? [Cole] I’m alright.
[Charisma] You’re talking, so he’s okay! [Cole] So, we’re seated at the table, and the Paddlefish team was so gracious to leave us a letter saying they’re thrilled to have us, and they gave us a little goodie bag with some delicious recipes. So we have a crab cake recipe right here. And a holder for the recipe which is most important. And a little box with - what’s in the box? Oh! Key chains. Mr. and Mrs. keychains, and then a wine stopper and a wine opener. So, they’re just - they’re really treating us well.
Of course we just stuffed our faces, and then they came out with an extra special dessert for us. So we have chocolate dessert, we have homemade cheesecake dessert, and we have key lime pie. And uh, this is about to be happily ever after because we're going to stuff our faces even more and it’s going to be so good! I can’t wait.
[Charisma] That’s good. [Cole] That’s good? [Charisma] It’s really good! [Cole] Yeah? [Charisma] You’re going for the chocolate? [Cole] I’m going to get some whipped cream. [Charisma] Babe! You ruined it. [Cole] We are back home from Disney.
[Charisma] Yes! [Cole] We had such a full last couple of days there. We were too exhausted to even break out the cameras. We were just like, “we’re going to have to wait and film this outro when we get home”. [Charisma] Yeah.
[Cole] Because we did a lot! [Charisma] We did so much. It was so much fun! But, I had to bring Disney home with me. [Cole] Yes! [Charisma] With my little ear.
[Cole] The magic is now in our home. [Charisma] Yay! [Cole] Disney magic. We actually did so much that we made a list of all the things that we did. [Charisma] Yeah, we couldn't remember all the rides. So we wanted to talk about them and also show the transfers.
But we wanted to make sure we didn’t miss out. [Cole] The first day we went to Hollywood Studios and we did pretty much everything there. We arrived though before everyone else had - before it was opened up to everyone else.
We had, like, an hour in the Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge area to ourselves to go around and get pictures and stuff. [Charisma] And videos - some good footage. [Cole] Had breakfast.
And then our first ride of the day was the Smuggler’s Run ride. [Charisma] So you’re sitting by yourself and we were a little concerned because Cole was by himself and I sat behind him to make sure he wasn't going anywhere. But, he was fine. [Cole] Yeah, and why we were concerned is because we didn't know how much it was going to be tippily and toppily. Um, and without core and without something strapping me in, I didn’t know if it was going to go far enough that it was going to toss me out of the seat.
There was a lap seatbelt, I think. [Charisma] Yeah, there was. [Cole] But that ride was a lot of fun. It was a little tippily toppily but not enough to shoot me out of the thing. And I got to enjoy it too because on that ride everybody has roles. So you have two pilots, you have a couple of gunners, and then you have the engineers.
So you were doing your engineer thing in the back. Hitting all the buttons when she was supposed to. [Charisma] Yeah. [Cole] I was shooting the bad guys' ships as we were flying around. [Charisma] The transfer was harder just because it’s just tight and Cole is just so tall.
A lot of the rides are just a little tight. So it’s just always kind of hard maneuvering his knees. So that was the hardest part. But it was nice because Cole could roll his chair all the way up and do a lateral transfer. Did you and I do a lateral transfer in? [Cole] I think you put me on there by yourself. [Charisma] Okay. [Cole] And then Blake and Garrett helped lift
me off. God bless Blake and Garrett. [Charisma] Yeah, they’re great! Just because of the space it was a little harder, and a little tight, but once he was in he didn’t go anywhere. I didn’t have to hold him. I was able to focus on my job and he did his job.
So that was really fun. And we had all the time in the world to transfer because we were the only ones on that ride. It was the six of us.
[Cole] So then after that, I think we hit up Slinky Dog next. [Charisma] No… Slinky Dog isn’t at Hollywood Studios… [Cole] Yes, it is. [Charisma] No, it’s not. [Cole] Yes, it is. I promise.
[Charisma] Really? [Cole] Mmhmm. [Charisma] ooooh, he’s right.We did hit up Slinky Dog. Okay. Wow.
We did hit up Slinky Dog and that ride was so much more fun than I thought it would be. [Cole] Yah, me too! When she was asking me what rides I wanted to go to when we were doing our research before the trip, she mentioned Slinky Dog and I was like “Oh, that sounds like a kid’s ride. I don’t think it’s worth the transfer and all that.” But it was one of my favorite rides! It was like a roller coaster, but not too intense.
But it was just really fun. I enjoyed that one a lot. And that transfer- There was also a bench for that one, right? [Charisma] Yeah, so like the side of the seat could come down, and then you could transfer onto the bench and then transfer one more time. So you had, like, levels. So I did the transfer by myself, but then I got a little help.
Just because I didn’t want to hurt his butt. We got into that ride pretty easily. It was very- It was smooth! Like, you held yourself. I don’t think I really had to do too much to hold you down. [Cole] No, that was one of the more comfortable rides we went on. [Charisma] Yeah.
[Cole] That was so much fun. I wish we could have done that multiple times. [Charisma] I know! I did, too. It was really, really fun. And then Garrett and Blake, obviously, helped Cole out.
[Cole] Yeah. [Charisma] You can just assume they helped on every ride, because they did. There were only a few that I could do by myself.
[Cole] And then the next ride we went on may have been my favorite ride of the whole, whole week we were there. The Tower of Terror. And I did not expect this to be my favorite at all. Because there are some awesome rides, obviously. But, I don’t know, something about the feeling, and, like, the suspense… Not knowing when the drop was coming and then that first drop I was like “Whoooooa!” [Charisma] If you don’t know the Tower of Terror, it’s, like, a free-fall. Like, kind of like- It just free-falls.
[Cole] It’s like a haunted elevator shooting you up and down. [Charisma] Yeah, and you just fall and go up, fall and go up. And it’s really fun. And you just don’t know when the drops are coming, which is, like, the scary part.
And even coming back up you feel like you’re dropping, too. So, it’s like you constantly feel that feeling in your stomach, which is really cool. Oh and, by the way, someone asked if Cole can feel that, and he can. [Cole] What? Oh! [Charisma] if you can feel the drop. [Cole] Yeah, that sensation, like, when you’re falling… Yah, I can feel that, and it’s part of the reason I loved that ride is because I haven’t felt that sensation in years.
I thought that it brought your car out, and then the doors open up, and then you drop. So, when the doors were still shut and we dropped… I was NOT ready. I was not ready at all. And I immediately hooked onto the back of my seat. And I was hunkering down.
Charisma had a job… And she failed her job… [Charisma] I did… I did. [Cole] Tell them what your job was. [Charisma] So, my job and Blake’s job was to hold Cole’s legs down so they wouldn’t keep bouncing and banging. So Blake did a great job holding Cole’s left leg. I had to hold Cole’s right leg. And I was so focused on me dropping and that feeling and holding on myself, I forgot about his leg.
So I had my hand there, but we would fall and my hand would go up with his leg. And, so I- I struggled… [Cole] You were screaming the whole time, too! [Charisma] I was! [Cole] You were, like, leaning over my lap “Aaahhh!” And I was leaning forward and then I looked at my knee, and found that my knee was right here in my face, and I’m like “That’s not where my knee is supposed to be! Charisma!” [Charisma] I know. I was like this on Cole “Aaahh!” [Cole] I know.But it worked out fine. No injuries. [Charisma] No.
[Cole] I think there was only one drop where my butt actually lifted a little bit. [Charisma] Yeah, it was probably the biggest drop. [Cole] It was the second one. I remember, because it was really abrupt. It went boop. And I just felt myself go clunk.
We had no bruises or anything at the end of the day, but that ride was awesome! [Charisma] It was really fun. And with the transfer, we could get close to it, but not super close, so Garrett and Blake had to actually carry Cole maybe, like, six or seven feet and then sat him down. He sat on the very end, which was easy to get into. And we were the only ones on that one, too. So we went to our own section and were able to transfer and take our time. No one had to wait on us because we had our own cart, which was really great.
[Cole] And then after the Tower of Terror… [Charisma] We went to Rock’n Roller Coaster. [Cole] That’s right. [Charisma] So that was- is, probably, in my opinion, the most intense ride out of all of Disney.
It goes upside down twice. It’s a roller coaster. It takes off super fast at the beginning. We got onto the ride. The transfer actually wasn't bad. It was okay.
[Cole] It was, it was challenging because of two reasons. It was low and it had the over the shoulder straps that comes down and goes clunk, clunk, clunk, and then it’s like right here. And because when that was raised, it didn’t get all the way out of the way. It was hard for Blake behind me to get into a good position to drop me down into the seat. [Charisma] I was a little concerned about his legs because we went upside down twice.
[Cole] Yeah, me too. [Charisma] So I held his legs. I kinda had my arm on them but I couldn't control it but too much, just because like, I have a whole thing on my chest. So, I cant reach too far. But his legs were fine. They moved around but they didn't go out of the cart or anything.
It was very in place. So after we did all that, we drove over to Animal Kingdom and got on more rides there. So, there were two rides where Cole stayed in his wheelchair.
So the first one was the Jungle Cruise. It’s just a little boat, comes around and they have this lift that they bring up and they drop down into the side of the dock, so it covers the gap. Then you just roll right on, then they spin you and drop you down.
And you get to stay right there in the middle of the boat through the whole ride. [Charisma] Yeah, it was really cool. It was a really simple, easy one. [Cole] Yeah.
Yeah. It’s iconic. Everyone knows the jungle cruise.
[Charisma] Yeah. And then the 2nd one was the safari ride. Cole could stay in his chair. So he rolled on, sat in the front. And they strapped down his wheelchair because you’re in a car and you kind of bump and stuff.
And so they strapped down his wheelchair. And that was one interesting because we had a rino come up to our car and I thought it might charge us. [Cole] It gave the driver the side eye. [Charisma] Yeah.
[Cole] Like, it was trying to cross the street and the driver was about to go ahead because it looked like it was waiting. And as soon as the driver made a move, the rino was like… [Charisma] Yeah. [Cole] And kind of like took a step and I - it was right beside me and I was like “uh no. No, no, no, no.” And then finally it just kind of walked off.
But I panicked for a second. I was like “what am I going to do if this thing attacks”. [Charisma] Nothing. [Cole] Nothing. I do nothing.
[Charisma] And then, you went on a couple of rides there where we transferred. One being expedition everest which I was so excited for! And that transfer was very easy. Wasn’t it? [Cole] Yeah.
[Charisma] Garrett and Glake. Garrett and Blake. Wow. [Cole] Garrett…
Barrett and Glake. [Charisma] Garrett and Blake were able to do that transfer really easily. [Cole] That was maybe my second favorite ride because it goes backward at one point and then it has a pretty intense drop. So that was really exciting. I enjoyed that one a lot.
[Charisma] Yeah, I liked that too. I sat beside Cole, so he had his arm around me and I was able to hold him. [Cole] Outside of that we did the Pandora rides. So, the first one being the Na’vi River Journey. Which is, if you’ve seen the movie Avatar, you feel like you’re going through a river at night in that world. That was gorgeous.
[Charisma] It was beautiful, so pretty, [Cole] It has one of the most expensive animatronics in the world on that ride! And then the last ride we did in Animal Kingdom was the Avatar Flight of Passage ride which is my favorite ride. I know I said Tower of Terror but this ride is… [Charisma] They’re tied. [Cole] It’s because Avatar is my favorite movie. If you've seen it, when they fly around on those dragon things, that’s basically what you feel like you’re doing on these rides. This is one we actually had a bit of a hard time transferring onto.
[Charisma] Yeah. [Cole] It was just kind of awkward and different than other transfers. So the first thing we did was go into this side room that they had a specialized wheelchair in. So, it was basically like a big gigantic closet.
And um, that allowed us to transfer in the special wheelchair without being seen. And this chair had an opening in between the legs for when you’re supposed to get on the ride. And then, you can kinda explain that because you saw more what was going on.
[Charisma] Yeah, so it has the opening, and so we rolled Cole over to the ride and then rolled him as far forward as possible in that wheelchair. And so all we had to do from the was just push his hips forward, and slide him forward. There’s a little piece where you kinda have to go up. So, it’s like, slide down and you have to go up a little bit.
And it was really hard, kinda like, pushing him all the way forward. Um, so we struggled a little bit. I’m not sure how we could do it differently next time.
I have to look at the ride again. But, it is a little bit of a challenge just to get all the way forward. [Cole] I felt comfortable. The only thing was, most of my upper body weight I was supporting through my hands and arms. And my elbow was kind of lodged in on the metal bar that people would just grab onto.
And I was holding it there the whole ride. And it’s a pretty long ride. By the end of it, I had little abrasions on my arm from that. Not a huge deal. Like, it’s healing up just fine. [Charisma] That’s one of those rides we didn't know what to expect.
Like Cole said, it was so different. We got used to the transfers for all of the other rides that we’re like, “wait, this is different”. It was nice that they had that device that made it a lot easier for people to get onto. [Cole] Right, without that it would’ve been much harder.
[Charisma] I don’t know how. [Cole] We would have had to rethink all of it. But um, that was a fun ride. And that was the last one we went on, right? [Charisma] Mhm. Mhm.
The next morning we went back to Hollywood Studios to get on one last ride that was absolutely amazing! [Cole] The primo ride of the park right now. Which is… [Both] Star wars ri… *Cole whispers the name* [Charisma] Okay, can you start over? [Cole] Which is.. [Both] Star Wars Rise of The Resistance. [Charisma] Oh my gosh. [Cole] The rise of the… No, Rise of the [Charisma] of the Resistance? Okay.
[Both] Star Wars Rise of the Resistance. [Cole] And that ride - Man, if you are a fan of Star Wars and you want to be in a Star Wars movie, go ride that ride! [Charisma] Seriously! It’s amazing! So many people want to ride it that you have to make reservations. You can’t just show up to the park and get on the ride. It’s a process. [Cole] It’s so good! It’s one of the longest experiences, I believe, at the park. It’s like 20 minutes.
[Charisma] I think it’s 18 minutes. [Cole] 18 minutes or something like that. You’re not on the cart throughout that 20 minutes or 18 minutes.
But, you’re being brought through basically, like, a movie set for the duration of the time. But the cart thing that we got on, which was another pretty easy transfer. Because they had a cart that was designed with a door that gave us extra room to get me in there. In the cart I was comfortable.
And then we were on there for 5 to 6 minutes or so. [Charisma] Yeah and, so you have the front section and the back. Four people, or maybe it’s like five and five. So the front section, um was much bigger, so we had more leg room. So we sat in the front which was much easier and had plenty of room for Cole’s legs.
Um, that was a really fun ride. It’s trackless and it’s really fascinating to see how the cart moves. So we ended our last day going on that ride and we flew home like three hours later.
So, we did a lot. We packed it in. Which is why we didn’t close out the video because we just need a couple of days to rest.
[Cole] Yeah. Again, I just want to give a shoutout to two people. So, Disney. Thank you Disney for hosting us.
We had such a blast. Definitely going to be back. We appreciate your accessibility and your efforts to make things more accessible, and to hear from people who need that accessibility.
And then the other people are Blake and Garrett! [Charisma] Yes! [Cole] Thank you so much! We had such a blast with you both. And ya’ll are the strongest, best, and smoothest transforers I’ve ever had. Thank you.
[Charisma] Yes, yes. No, they’re great! It was amazing! And thanks Armando for getting all of this footage for our transfers, as well. [Cole] Oh yes, we wouldn't have any of that footage without him. So thank you, Armando. [Charisma] It was a group effort. Um, but it was amazing! We had such a great time.
I want to go back and it was nice feeling like it was one of our honeymoons. Because we’re taking many honeymoons since we had to wait so long. I’m considering every trip we go on our honeymoon at this point. [Cole] Might as well. [Charisma] I know. So, this was honeymoon part 2.
Arizona was part 1. Honeymoon part 2 in Disney. Disney is so open to feedback and ways they can improve which I really appreciate.
No one is ever perfect when it comes to accessibility and we all acknowledge that. And, it’s just great having a company that’s willing to learn, to hear us, and to try to be better. [Cole] They’re definitely trying to take it into consideration and listening to the community. Which we love.
[Charisma] We do. [Charisma] So we’re going to do a lot more traveling and just talking about accessibility in different places. We have so many exciting trips coming up, so we can’t wait to share all of those with you all. For now. [Cole] Thanks for watching everyone.
[Charisma] Don’t forget to like, comment, share, subscribe, and Stayyy Posiiitivee! [Cole] Alright. [Charisma] Peace out! [Cole] Bye!
2021-06-08 18:35
