How do you unwind after a demanding day?
17000 steps. That’s a demanding day for me. The day I did Ferrari World for the third time. The first two times, we took the combined park tickets. But the third time around, we were clear that we only wanted to do the rides at Ferrari World and hence we spent all the time only doing the rides at Ferrari World. A typical amusement park day starts with us having a good breakfast. We fill up, shower, and sit and wait for a bit, then we head to the park. This keeps us going for most of the day until almost 3 pm, after which we eat lunch. We’re done with our rides by then, and the restaurants are done with the largest lunch rush crowds, and we can sit and eat a relaxed lunch.
That day, we were staying on Yas islands and just had to get the shuttle to the park. But seeing the crowds waiting to board the shuttle, we decided to catch a cab instead. We reached the amusement park at 1030 am and once there, we headed indoors. We had an online ticket so did not have to queue up for the tickets. Typically, we purchased the fast access pass (FAP) in the park itself depending on the crowd we stumbled into. Procuring the FAP, took a few minutes, but even then, we had to wait, for an hour, for the rides to open.
I started the year, with a shoulder injury and have not been able to exercise since then. So, I had no clue if I would be able to sit on the Formula Rossa, but hoping for the best, I stood in queue. One ride, and then I would deal with the consequences. The family was aware of the problem, and everyone (including the kids who were eager to get on first on the first ride of the day) held back to walk with me. A lot of eye-rolling and head nodding were happening, behind my back, because they did not want me to feel bad that I was holding them back. But, when the barricades opened and I took off at a trot, the kid walking with me asked if I was ok to run, so I informed, him that I would go at my pace, and they could go ahead, and I would not be upset. The deal was to do the ride. That’s it. The kids took off like rockets. We’ve done this so many times that the kids knew the route to the rides and went straight to it. I reached them eventually and early enough not to disrupt the queues. The kids were clear that they only wanted that first seat on the ride. So, we decided to go on the second round. They were seats 1 and we were seats 2. The ride was completed. My shoulder felt fine. So off we went for the next ride. The Flying Aces. Everyone always headed to Formula Rossa. And very few headed to Flying Aces. Typically, the crowds on this ride build up over the day. So, when we reached the queue, we sailed right in, and there were just a couple of others in the queue with us. We took our usual seats, 1 & 2, and howled through the ride. The shoulder was fine.
So, we headed back to Formula Rossa, this time to use the FAP we had purchased. Formula Rossa stipulates a compulsory 15-minute break between consecutive rides, and usually, this gets covered with the time taken waiting in the queue or if you go to another ride and then get back. Once this was done, my shoulder felt just fine, we headed back to Flying Aces. Again, we opted for Seats 1&2 and howled through it. While walking out, the kids challenged each other to repeat the ride, and off we went, back on the Flying Aces. By 1 pm, we had finished 3 rides on Formula Rossa and 3 on Flying Aces. Seeing the crowd at the lunch tables, we decided to also finish the Scuderia Challenge. There were no participants at the Tyre Change Experience, so we also completed that. Around 3 pm headed back to Mamma Rosssella to finish lunch. We could not have timed this day better. with all the running around I had done, I had just about touched 15000 steps and my shins were killing me.
But we still had to explore some of the other rides, the Karting Academy and Turbo Tower. I have no idea how I finished the rest of the step count. All I know is by the time we headed back from the hotel restaurant to the room, I had completed a little more than17000 steps and while my mind and the rest of my body was still vibrating with the adrenaline, everything below my knees had just zoned off. Every step was torture, needles pricking, sharp pain, and rolling gait. But I felt like I was walking through waist-deep sludge. Lying in bed provided no relief, so, I had the kids sit on them for half an hour while they surfed and played games on their devices. My mind relaxed sufficiently to let the legs relax and I crashed out.
An enjoyable but demanding day. 17000 steps and the only way to end it was in sleep. I’ve read enough books and seen enough movies where the protagonists unwind with a drink. I’ve also tried the ‘one drink’ after 15000 steps (on an earlier visit to the amusement park) and I promise you, I could not even taste it. Did not enjoy it. I was too tired. I had to finish what I had paid for. So, I drank it in big gulps. The belly got full, but the thirst was not quenched. It hit faster. And I put my head down to feel less dizzy. Crashed out, without having enough water. And I woke up in the middle of the night, with a cramp in my leg. Nah! That lesson was a good one. This time, the day ended with the kids sitting on my feet until they stopped paining. No alcohol. Good food. And even better company. Cozy. “Warm as a bug in a rug”.
Just a little more 