Dessert First

As I am sitting here eating ice cream out of the vessel we scored on vacation...

I want to skip right to the best part, dessert. 

I want to fast forward all the way to our last day in the park. This was the day we found out that

they were going to close the park to enforce social distancing. Thank

goodness it was our last day because the day after they announced it, we

were on the road and the lines to get in were swollen with eager tourists. 

Everybody wanted to get in knowing that the park had only one day left to 

remain open. You want to talk about perfect timing? This was it. 

We had no interruption to our original travel plans. (Also keep the timeline

of events in context. When we left for our trip the directive was, "wash your hands."

While we were gone, the situation changed and escalated on a daily basis. We

did not take this trip to bite our thumb at the government or its directives. 

Until we had been on vacation for a few days the only instruction was to 

observe safe sanitation practices. So please do  not read this using the lens

of the current climate and the shelter-in order.)

Having no interruption to our travel made eating ice cream at Florean Fortescue's Ice 

Cream Parlor that much

Sweeter.

All week we wandered through the streets of Diagon Alley, enjoying the sights sounds

and spells (haha). Every day the kids looked longingly at the window of the ice cream shop,

wishing for a taste of the treats inside.

I told them all I would buy them ice cream for dessert on the last night after hearing, "can we

have ice cream?" for the hundredth time.

View from the inside of the ice cream shop's window

Fast forward to the last night. After eating dinner at the Leaky Coldron, it was

decided that the Mummy was the last ride we all wanted to ride. Thankfully

The Mummy was across the park. Walking gave us a chance to let our tummies

settle before hopping on a roller coaster. (Just one of those things you try not to 

think about while at an amusement park; eating then riding. Just go for it.)

It was also our opportunity to try the "single rider line" method to getting on a ride faster.

We had heard about going in the single rider line from one of the folks in the hot

tub at the resort. "If you don't mind sitting by yourself in a row, you can get in the single rider line.

So you put one adult in the front of the line to ride first, and wait for each kid as they get off.

Then Grown up number two goes last and stays with all the kids till they have all got on the ride."

So while other parties wanted to all ride the ride "together at the same time", we all elected to

hop in the single rider line. So instead of waiting 45 minutes, we only had to wait 20. As it turned

Out I was on the same ride as all 4 kids. They were just in different rows than me. My Slytherin

Adult travel companion was in the cart behind us. So we all just waited at the exit until he got off

the ride.

"Now can we get ice cream?" the kids begged.

"Yes, now we can go get ice cream," I replied.

We started walking our way back across the park. We passed the Fast and the Furious car "showroom"

And Slytherin Adult travel companion said he wanted to pop in while we went to get ice cream. It was down to our last hour in the park, and I knew he really wanted to see the cars. So I agreed and continued to walk with the kids to Diagon Alley.

We were in a hurry,  knowing that the park was going to close shortly.  After we entered the the ice cream shop they allowed one more party in behind us and then they closed the door for the night. Only the people that were already standing in line were served.

We arrived Just in Time!

Standing in line at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor in Diagon Alley

I told the kids to get anything they wanted. They were shocked that they could literally get any

flavor swirled with any other flavor! "You mean it's not just vanilla and chocolate?" Gryffindor asked.

"Any two flavors," replied the witch behind the counter.

Each child put in their order and I made my way down the line to the cash register. It took them several minutes to create the desserts. As I was waiting, a woman came shuffling down the line towards me.

"Excuse me, have you paid for your ice cream yet?" she asked.

"No, not yet," I replied, a little bewildered.

"I have snacks left on this food card. Can I buy your ice cream for you?"

Seriously? A total stranger comes up to me asking to pay for $31.00 worth of ice cream?

"Yes. Thank you!" was of course my reply.

Magic? Who knows. The kids all got their dream desserts finally and they didn't cost me a single Fun Dollar!

Finally some ice cream!

Now that is what I call the cherry on top.