Wrestling Mania or Our Trip To The Magical Kingdom
The year was 2008. For Krude, a very good year. I had a
gorgeous European gf (a world class musician as well). I made a lot of $. I
bought a new car.And took 4 separate vacations that year. But one vacation that
year was (and still is) super special to me. It was my trip to Orlando,FL with
my son (10 years old then) during his week off for Spring Break. To see Walt
Disney World,Universal Studios and WrestleMania 24.
It was the first time I would get to be with my son away
from NJ for an extended period of time. Through a messy divorce and other
underlying factors,me and my son had never gone away like this before. We were
both super excited. Especially for WM24. My son was a huge John Cena and Batista
fan. I was stoked to see Ric Flair in his final match.
Tickets bought. Flights,hotel,and car booked. No turning
back now.
Arrived in Orlando one week prior to WM24. That would give
us plenty of time to do Universal Studios and all things Disney. Two items of
note about that week:1.the Jonas Brothers were doing a show at Universal. Every
girl under the age of 15 was wearing their Jonas t shirt. I pretended to read
the name 'Jonas' aloud as 'Jo-n-Ass' off of the shirts-much to the amusement of
my son. 2. While we were at the Magic Kingdom,my son spotted former WWE jobber
Funaki,alone eating an ice cream cone.I asked my son if he wanted Funaki's autograph.
"No,he sucks". INDEED!
After six days of playing in the Orlando theme parks,it was
now time for the 2008 WWE Hall Of Fame induction ceremony at the Amway Arena.
The actual ceremony went about 4 hours or so. It was fun,mainly due to the
crowd chants. The CM Punk tattoo the guy in front of me had baffled me at the
time. I just had to take a pic of it.Glad I did.
Next morning,we woke up early to get a few more hours in at
Universal Studios. Then back to the hotel to prepare for WrestleMania 24. The
drive from our hotel (in Kissimmee,FL) to the Citrus Bowl Stadium was about 12
miles. We left at 4:30 pm to make it by the 6:30 start time. It took 2 hours to
go the 12 miles due to massive traffic and nowhere to park. We got there just
as it started. Had to park on some guys front lawn (for $10) about 3/4 mile
away from Citrus Bowl Stadium. See pic.
The Citrus Bowl itself was easily the worst stadium I ever
stepped foot in. And I've been to the old Foxboro stadium outside of Boston and
to the green carpet Vet in Philadelphia. What a pit the Citrus Bowl was. It has
since been refurbished for next year's WrestleMania. Lucky for anybody
attending next year.
We had seats dead center to the ring.First level up,first
row. I made sure to get that ticket location so that nobody could stand in
front of us at anytime. People with signs at wrestling shows are cool,but best
to sit away from,if possible.When you have kids,it makes sense to do that.
WM24 was a solid show. MITB Ladder match was the best of the
night. Big Show vs Floyd Mayweather was a dud. Undertaker beating Edge for the belt
was a forgone conclusion. But it was the Ric Flair vs Shawn Michaels match that
made the evening so special. I was glad to witness that match in person.
I took about 100 pictures that night. I thought I would
share a few with you.
I am taking my son to Wacken 2017 (metal music festival) in
Europe, July 2017. It will be his High School graduation gift. It's probably
where we will share our first beer together. Can't wait!
BTW. If you are wondering about the title of this blog,let
me explain. My ex wife called us during that vacation (while we were in
Universal). She had my son on the phone. He was replying to her with simple
'yes' or 'no' answers. With a grin on his face. When he hung up the phone,i
asked him what was so funny.He said that his mother asked if "the Magical
Kingdom was fun?" and "what day are you going to Wrestling
Mania?". Magical Kingdom and Wrestling Mania has been a running joke with
the two of us ever since.
See you in Atlantic City,NJ on April 3,2016 for the
BumWineBob.com WrestleMania 32 bash. I'm sure some new 'running jokes' will be
made during this event.
Give me Vince or give me death
KK
@kapn_krude
Tags:
krude experience