grrlTravels

I've got the ears to prove it

I used to be a Disney curmudgeon. Of course I had never been to Disney, and I didn't really get it. It seemed amazing that so many people went on and on and on about Disney. I mean really, who is Mickey Mouse these days? He's lost some of that star power he had in the heyday of the Mouseketeers, some of the old twinkle, you know?

Our first year of married life we had the usual fight about where to spend the holidays. Subsequently we decided that we would travel every year over Thanksgiving, and our trip evolved into a yearly trek to Orlando. It was close, relatively cheap, and relaxing in that no thought whatsoever was required. We stayed near Univeral Studios and never ventured near The House of the Mouse.

Finally one year K. convinced me to go and spend one day at Disney. And I was amazed at how happy Disney made me. I can't really explain it. It's a very happy place as long as you let yourself go and get into it. If you want to be grumpy then it's a obnoxiously cheerful, black-light-and-fluorescent-paint-loving, packed-to-the-gills-with-other-people's-overtired-kids, exaggeratedly-self-important playground. Perhaps a kind adjective would be idiosyncratic. Or freakish.

But I had already decided to embrace Disney with all of its Olde Tyme Fun. (When in Rome and tra-la-la, etc.) And then E. came along, and it all changed again. Disney, as seen through the eyes of your own children, is an enchanting wonderland of supreme happiness. You may find yourself wandering around with some big silly grin plastered all over your face. You may find yourself getting excited when you see Chip and Dale lumbering towards you, and you may not even think to feel sorry for the poor "cast member" stuffed in that suit in the hot Florida sun. You may find yourself distraught when informed that "It's a Small World" is closed for renovations. (Well, really, how could they?) You may find yourself wishing that the princess outfits came in women's sizes.

Cinderella