There was magic, to be sure, and I’ll get to that. The not-so-magical part of it was the fact that we chose to visit the theme park on the Saturday of a long weekend, which we hadn’t realized was this weekend until we heard someone mention it on the TV news last night. We figured since we were coming in January, hardly anyone would be there, or at least the numbers would be lower than normal. Boy were we wrong. It took more than two hours to get from the parking lot, through the ticket lineup and finally through those magical portals to the park itself.
Masses of people crowded the streets. Teeming throngs. Wall to wall humanity. And what a varied bunch they were too! We certainly didn’t feel out of place as two baby boomers without kids. But there were lots of kids too. The ones that really blew me away were the little girls dressed in Snow White or Cinderella costumes, or with their hair swept up on their heads, sprayed with glitter hairspray and anchored with tiaras and Mickey Mouse barrettes. The odd wardrobe choices weren’t limited to the younger set either; scores of much older little girls were wearing sequined mouse ears with red polka-dot bows, and lots of people had mouse-themed T-shirts and other garb.
With map in hand, Val and I wandered through the various sections of the park. Signs at the various rides indicated wait times, while long queues of people snaked along the entrances to them. I didn’t see any wait times under an hour. We weren’t all that interested in having our guts wrenched sideways in lurching rides over mountains or through tunnels anyway. We did take the monorail to peek at Epcot, and the choo-choo train through the Magic Kingdom for an overview, as well as a leisurely sail on the stately paddlewheel near Tom Sawyer’s island.
The highlights of the day were the Dream Come True parade in the afternoon (there was Mickey! In person!), and then, after dark, the Main Street Electrical parade with floats all made of lights, including Alice in Wonderland’s toadstools, Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage, and Captain Hook’s pirate ship. They were spectacular! And, just as our feet were ready to fall off, we actually found a spot to sit down and watch the amazing fireworks display behind the multi-spired Disney castle. The show was accompanied with music, song and Jiminy Cricket’s voice, talking about how dreams can make wishes come true, while brilliant sunbursts, stars and sparkles lit up the night sky.
Val truly earned his halo, tromping around with a spouse-turned-six-year-old all day! My special souvenir is a pair of Mickey Mouse ears, just like the ones the Mousketeers wore on TV, which I yearned to possess as a child, when I faithfully watched Jimmie and Annette and Bobbie and all the others in their white turtleneck T-shirts, singing “M-I-C (see you real soon!), K-E-Y (why? Because we LIKE you!), M-O-U-S-E!” A great day. And great memories.
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