Things had not been well with me for a long time. Financial crises and
joblesness seemed to be a way of life for me, and the result was not being
able to renew my annual pass. Being locked out of DisneyWorld for a
little while was tolerable, but being unable to go for months was becoming
unbearable. Strange as it may seem, for better or worse, its all part of
me somehow. How does the song go "It's a part of me, it's a part of you?"
Maybe it't the reclaiming of the childhood I can't remember, or maybe it's
just the one luxury in the world I'm spoiled on.
The beginning of December is a special time for me. Mickey Mouse's birthday, Walt Disney's Birthday, my mother's birthday, my birthday, Christmas, and New Year's day all fall exactly a week apart from each other: the only exception being that my birthday is six days after my mother's. Consequently, the month of December can either be about celebration or depression with me, depending on what happens and how well I respond to it. This year was shaping up to be the latter.
Fortunately, I've got a few friends down here in Orlando, and one of them (KA) happened to have access to maingate passes: so it happened that a few friends and I were able to go to the Magic Kingdom on December 5, Walt Disney's Birthday. We started the day in the Polynesian resort at a character meal called O'hana. It was more than a little interesting that my friends were interested in a character breakfast, but I think the appeal of an all-you-care-to-eat breakfast which featured pineapple bread was what really brought them.
The characters came one by one in their usual fashion came up to our table and did the routine things: Chip and Dale's stealing crumbs off the table, Goofy's tripping over things and the like. The strange thing was Mickey: he was life-size. By that, I don't mean the five-foot-six or so version, I mean he was three or four feet tall like most envision him to be. Like he is in the partners statue. Everybody at the table was very surprised...even I had only seen something like this once, when it was a small Donald standing next to the usual-sized Pluto back a few years ago. This Mickey was great. He was very full of energy, really had the Mickey Mouse gestures and attitude down: totally exuded the personality of The Mouse. I've seen characters, and I've seen characters- but this performance was right on.
The little Mickey approached with just the right arm-swing with just the right kind of walk. I was first to notice him (because I am always looking out at these meals), and the look in my eyes is actually what caught JA's attention.
"I've never seen him the small before" he commented.
"It's not just that...that walk is perfect." I answered, now openly staring at him.
Mickey's nod, then the two hands coming above the head in the "Ta-Da" gesture were also very Mickey-like. "Wow. This one's good." I said, consumed by the performance.
Mickey went on to shake CK's hand "I think I see... Hey, stand up a minute"
CK did, and I finished the observation "That's the two-handed handshake from Fantasia. Very nice. "
Mickey finished with an "Aw, shucks" gesture, then he noticed the ring.
It's a very simple ring on my left hand ring finger, which I inherited from my grandfather. It fit me almost exactly as it did him, I'm told. It's no big deal by me, but it does represent the sort of connection I have with DisneyWorld: they had contacted my grandfather about being head of security in the "Underground" when they were building the place. I've been told that I could have easily wound up being raised in Orlando because of this.
The ring gets a lot of attention from both people and characters. I once had a jawa try to take it from me during Star Wars weekends. Mickey was also very interested in the ring. He took my hand in his little hands, and carefully examined it. Finally, he gave me the thumbs up gesture and walked on to the next table.
"That was everything but the voice." I told my friends.
"See ya, pal." I turned around and waved goodbye at him.
I could have sworn I saw the Mouse wink.
The beginning of December is a special time for me. Mickey Mouse's birthday, Walt Disney's Birthday, my mother's birthday, my birthday, Christmas, and New Year's day all fall exactly a week apart from each other: the only exception being that my birthday is six days after my mother's. Consequently, the month of December can either be about celebration or depression with me, depending on what happens and how well I respond to it. This year was shaping up to be the latter.
Fortunately, I've got a few friends down here in Orlando, and one of them (KA) happened to have access to maingate passes: so it happened that a few friends and I were able to go to the Magic Kingdom on December 5, Walt Disney's Birthday. We started the day in the Polynesian resort at a character meal called O'hana. It was more than a little interesting that my friends were interested in a character breakfast, but I think the appeal of an all-you-care-to-eat breakfast which featured pineapple bread was what really brought them.
The characters came one by one in their usual fashion came up to our table and did the routine things: Chip and Dale's stealing crumbs off the table, Goofy's tripping over things and the like. The strange thing was Mickey: he was life-size. By that, I don't mean the five-foot-six or so version, I mean he was three or four feet tall like most envision him to be. Like he is in the partners statue. Everybody at the table was very surprised...even I had only seen something like this once, when it was a small Donald standing next to the usual-sized Pluto back a few years ago. This Mickey was great. He was very full of energy, really had the Mickey Mouse gestures and attitude down: totally exuded the personality of The Mouse. I've seen characters, and I've seen characters- but this performance was right on.
The little Mickey approached with just the right arm-swing with just the right kind of walk. I was first to notice him (because I am always looking out at these meals), and the look in my eyes is actually what caught JA's attention.
"I've never seen him the small before" he commented.
"It's not just that...that walk is perfect." I answered, now openly staring at him.
Mickey's nod, then the two hands coming above the head in the "Ta-Da" gesture were also very Mickey-like. "Wow. This one's good." I said, consumed by the performance.
Mickey went on to shake CK's hand "I think I see... Hey, stand up a minute"
CK did, and I finished the observation "That's the two-handed handshake from Fantasia. Very nice. "
Mickey finished with an "Aw, shucks" gesture, then he noticed the ring.
It's a very simple ring on my left hand ring finger, which I inherited from my grandfather. It fit me almost exactly as it did him, I'm told. It's no big deal by me, but it does represent the sort of connection I have with DisneyWorld: they had contacted my grandfather about being head of security in the "Underground" when they were building the place. I've been told that I could have easily wound up being raised in Orlando because of this.
The ring gets a lot of attention from both people and characters. I once had a jawa try to take it from me during Star Wars weekends. Mickey was also very interested in the ring. He took my hand in his little hands, and carefully examined it. Finally, he gave me the thumbs up gesture and walked on to the next table.
"That was everything but the voice." I told my friends.
"See ya, pal." I turned around and waved goodbye at him.
I could have sworn I saw the Mouse wink.