Boys' Weekend

By Eric Deggans
Published: April 10, 2009
Last Updated On: June 15, 2011

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Theme Parks

Walt Disney World

Race car driving, fishing and horseback riding? This is not your kids' Disney. The Magic Kingdom gets macho for a boys' weekend out.

Imagine you're a forty-something, African-American father of four, who decides to arrange a Boys Weekend Out with a good buddy - testing your limited outdoors skills with a full plate of activities.

So why Walt Disney World Resort? Mostly because this theme park universe has a little-known, well-managed outdoorsy side - with scuba diving (in The Seas with Nemo & Friends Pavilion in Epcot), parasailing, bass fishing and horseback riding - no animatronics necessary.

My pal Leon and I decided to start slow, bunking at  Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge with the idea of seeing whether two city slickers could handle a little outdoor fun at the Mouse House.

We had no idea what the weekend had in store.


7:30 a.m. Saturday, Bass Fishing

Sluggish from a late night at the hotel bar, we trudged to the marina behind Disney's Polynesian Resort for our first manly activity - bass fishing along the waterways at Walt Disney World.

We were scheduled for two hours of catch and release bass fishing aboard a sleek, Sun Tracker pontoon boat - supplied with rod and reel, bait, hooks and even beverages. But the key to success would be our guide.

Two urbanites who could barely find the business end of a rod and reel must have looked like a comedy team to an experienced fishing guide. But he only showed delight at our jokey fumbling and our astonishment when we actually hooked a fish - the truest measure of a quality guide.

But Jim only showed delight at our jokey fumbling and our astonishment when we actually hooked a fish - the truest measure of a quality guide.

The consensus was that I cast like an eight-year-old girl, barely sending the hook three feet in front of the boat. This lack of skill contrasted with Leon's success - literally minutes after casting a line into the water, he was hauling out the first of six fish he'd wrangle that morning.

Along the way, our guide revealed sage tidbits, from the benefits of the Palomar knot, to the way smaller bluegill fish ate the eyeballs from our shiner baitfish without pulling them off the hook - cool!

Watching a monorail pass overhead, we were sure some guy headed to a weekend of theme park rides with his family must have his nose pressed against the window like a basset hound, wishing he was sitting in our seats.

"Now," Leon said, turning to me almost wistfully, "I feel like a man."


3 p.m. Saturday, Race Car Driving

The aroma in the wardrobe room/classroom area of the Richard Petty Driving Experience is a curious mix of locker room musk and tire rubber - a sign that here is where the Magic Kingdom starts for guys.

At a racetrack adjacent to the Magic Kingdom parking lot, after approximately one hour of instruction, race fans are ready to take the wheel and drive a 600 horsepower NASCAR racecar for eight laps, ride three laps around the track beside a professional driving instructor or drive more laps for higher fees. For a simple ride-along, no instruction is required.

Coming to Petty for the ride-along, Leon and I are directed to a rack of splashy red, white and blue jumpsuits. Slip one on and you feel a little like Buzz Aldrin headed to the launch pad, imaginary theme music playing inside your head as you swagger to the racetrack.

Once there, you'll don a huge helmet and an interlocking harness of straps that secures your headgear to your jumpsuit and, eventually, you to the car. Leon and I didn't know NASCAR from Nordstroms, but we could dig speeding around the track at about 140 mph - high-fiving each other minutes later, like two Duke brothers after a car chase.

"Dude," laughed one of our fellow riders, "you're honorary rednecks now."


8:30 a.m. Sunday, Horseback Riding

Facing our second early morning start of the weekend, Leon and I enjoyed a sedate beginners' horseback trail ride. Convened at the stables besides Fort Wilderness Resort, our group of seven riders spent an hour traversing a nature trail on steeds so laid back, our biggest problem was keeping them from eating trailside shrubbery. (My horse was named Molly. 'Nuff said.)

Far from hokey or off-putting, our weekend of outdoorsy activities offered a bit of thrill for a couple of urbanite brothers, backed by the security and tourist-friendly appeal that is Disney's hallmark. Who knew roughing it could be so smooth?