It was a bright and sunny day, that day we ventured forth to the Magic Kingdom.
We were very lucky with the weather, the two nicest days (and those very nice days) came the two days we had for outdoor activities, with clouds and rain coming in the next day. We had to balance use of the Disney prod between getting the kids moving and over exciting them. We held off the latter until we were on the road to Disney, at which point Alice would break down in tears every time we didn’t take a turn off, because she was sure that was the way to the Magic Kingdom. Naturally, our destination was 5 miles down a round with lots of turns off.
I suppose it’s all part of the excitement building (my rule of thumb — nothing is accidental or unplanned in the Land of Disney). The entire trip there was a series of entering events — Disney Land itself, the Magic Kingdom hinterlands (where the parking1 is), the forecourt of the Magic Kingdom (where tickets are sold2), the Security Gates, the Turnstile Boundary3, some others I have probably forgotten, and finally the very thing itself — the Magic Kingdom …
We split up along gender lines, the moms taking Alice off to do girly things while the dads took the boyen off for boyish things, like Space Mountain. Charles refused the ride, but Wolf was up for it so I went along in case of him losing it. Wolf started out with little whimpers of “make it stop! stop the ride!” but by the time we got back to Tim and Charles, Wolf was all set for another go. We did the race cars next, but Charles wouldn’t do that either. I was beginning to wonder if Charles’ precious memories would consist primarily of sitting on benches waiting for the other kids to finish, his only happy time the few minutes we spent on the monorail4.
We spent the rest of the day splitting and rejoining in various combinations as various children had very various opinions on what was fun5. I ended up spending the day with Charles and sometimes other people. I did find some Charles friendly attractions, such as a large pseudo-steam boat and the fort on Tom Sawyers’ Island. Charles really liked the fort and spent a long time there, which gave me a nice break. I just let him run around while I rested up on one of the barrels. There were mounted rifles that made sounds, which Charles used to shoot at the steam boat. Charles also particularly liked the Jungle Cruise and riding back to the parking lot on the ferry, although it wasn’t as cool as the monorail.
Corwin and Bear were let go to find their own way after the initial run. They did an OK job of answering Corwin’s cell phone and a good job at checking for messages (it wasn’t as noisy as Downtown Disney, but it was hardly quiet, especially later in the day as the crowds increased). For this reason, I can’t tell you much of what they did. Wolf ran with the big boys part of the time and with his dad other times. Corwin and Bear got stuck with the other parents when Charles holed up on Tom Sawyer’s Island and I was left holding the fort (hahaha — that’s a sense of humor, folks, chicks dig it).
As for Alice, I had her early in the day, but she was later rescued from my clutches by Mom. Perhaps Alice’s plaintive pleas on the steam boat of “I miss Mommy” and “this is the scariest day of my life” might have influenced that. Although, I will note, Mom got Alice to say “this is the saddest day of my life!” by missing the 3 PM parade at the Disney castle. I managed to save the day by holding up Alice on my shoulders so she could watch a stage show in front of the castle which featured dancing princesses! Alice said that was the very best part of the entire day. This despite the fact that at Story Time with Belle Alice got to play Chip the Teacup and a princess hat8.
As for me, I almost missed visiting the Disney Castle, the iconic center of the entire Magic Kingdom. I pointed this out to Mom and she let me go, just so that I could say I had been there. I saw the princess production facility embedded there. Despite the rather steep cost, it was packed with a long waiting line. Of course, we saw many little girls already princessified as they arrived at the park. In that same vein, we went on the “It’s a Small World” ride, which Alice found a bit too intense. But how could we go to the Magic Kingdom and not do that ride?
My favorite memory is seeing another little boy, about two or so, who was attached to his mom with a leash and a body harness. The harness itself was a monkey so both the parent and child had a monkey on their back. I mentioned this to Mom, but she didn’t think it was as cool as I did. You know how moms are. Alice, of course, had on her Disney Princess jacket over her Disney Princess shirt, which is just a different sort of monkeys on her back.
We had planned to leave around four, but due to various delays (such as watching princesses dance) we didn’t actually get on the road until six, heading for Atlanta for a quick nap before the final haul home. There was also replacing Charles’ giant lollipop, which got smashed before he opened it. Corwin managed to eat a non-trivial part of his, but I think Charles and Alice just managed to lick through the surface coloring before we got back home (and the remains are still stuck in plastic bags on the counter).
1 When you ride the trailer from the parking lot to the forecourt, do not pick a seat directly behind the engine.
2 We had some difficulty gaining entrance, as our vacation seemed to count as fraud to the credit card company. We found numerous messages from them on the answering machine when we got back. We even had the card refused at a gas station on the return, but luckily I am plentifully supplied with credit access items.
3 I, not having been to any Disney place before, didn’t realize this. Fortunately Mom would immediately correct me every time I got it wrong. She’s helpful that way.
4 Charles claimed at this time that he would have been happy to spend his entire time there on the monorail, although for some reason he wasn’t nearly as enthused about the local tram that circled around the various Lands.
5 Alice refused to meet the Disney cast member6 dressed as Alice from Alice in Wonderland, even though Mom had purchased an Alice style dress for our Alice from the Princess store in Downtown Disney.
6 All staff at the Magic Kingdom are referred to by Disney as “cast members”7.
7 Gosh this nesting of footnotes is addictive … must be strong …
8 The only thing we bought in gift shops that day, Alice once again making out like a bandit on the stuff acquisition front, matching the boys’ Lego™ plus girly stuff from Downtown Disney and the hat. Mom thought of buying some mouse ears but the sticker shock was too much. I suspect she’ll buy some online and just let people think she bought them there.
