Walt Disney World is a magical place. There are lots of memories to be made. Typically, when you ask someone what their favorite parts of the parks are they ramble off the rides they enjoyed. My list is a little different. While I do point out a few rides, most of my memories of enjoyment lay in smaller specific details of the park and how those items make me feel.
Campfires With Chipmunks
My earliest memory of Walt Disney World was at the age of 5, camping at Fort Wilderness. In the evening when families were settling down from their time at the parks, the magic continued. Sitting on wooden benches, my two brothers and I anxiously awaited the arrival of two furry rodents, Chip and Dale. Waddling to their open stage accompanied by a cowboy with a guitar, the show began. A couple songs were sang by the strumming cowboy, while Chip and Dale danced around. I'm sure Dale was causing some mischief with being overly goofy, making the crowd laugh( that's why Dale with his big red nose is my favorite). Chip wagging his finger in scolding Dale to be more serious. Then both cover their mouths and shake their bodies in mime laughter. After the show there was a meet and greet, along with roasting marshmallows over a camp fire. What a wonderful moment of interacting so close to these two lovable characters.
Dinner And A Show
Even while eating, a visitor of Disney World can be entertained with a show. At Liberty Square Taverne a troupe of soldiers parade by, beating on drums and whistling a Yankee Doodle Dandy number through flutes. In Frontier Land you can have a rip- roaring good time laughing and clapping at the Pioneer Hall Players in their western vaudeville act, the Hoop Dee doo Revue. For this memory we are going to travel to the Biergarten in Epcot's Germany. The interior to this restaurant is amazing. Three tiers of dinning space with long wooden tables fills the banquet hall made to look like a Bavarian town. A backdrop of the mountain top Alps lays behind the lederhosen clad performers on stage. The room is filled with their Ompa- pa tunes, making you want to swing a beer stein in the air. What I remember from this performance is the alphorns, playing of glasses, and the chicken dance. Waitresses in dirndl ( traditional German dresses) would grab members of the audience and the room would erupt into chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, flap, flap, flap, flap, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, clap, clap, clap, clap. Then as the accordion played to the merry melody, hands were grabbed and a trail of tourists were weaved around the tables. This was the only time your parents would allow a stranger to grab your hand and lead you away because everyone was family during this time, participating in a silly dance. Faster and faster the song went and faster and faster I tried to keep up, screwing up the hand motions. At the end of the song I was definitely ready for dessert.
Water Skiing Characters
There are several ways of arriving at the Magic Kingdom. One of those ways is by ferry boat. While trekking across the water Disney cast members are making sure their guests are always entertained. Welcoming everyone to the Magic Kingdom is a water skiing Pinocchio and Goofy doing funny tricks. As a small child I thought this was amazing.
The Monorail
Another way of transportation to the different parks is the Monorail. Zooming along a track and even zipping through the lobby of Disney's Contemporary Resort. While all this is fine and dandy the cars of the Monorail are like the New York City Subway, only cleaner and with less shady people. They are always packed with people and you're never guaranteed a seat. So why bring up monorails as a favorite memory? Only for one reason, the " Please stand clear of the doors" message broadcasted over the intercoms. After the English message would come the Spanish translation. With rapid speed my older brother would repeat this message, " Por favor mantengase alejardo de las puertas." As far as I know it he still has that phrase memorized.
The Entrance To The Magic Kingdom
After entering through the gates of the Magic Kingdom you walk through a tunnel. Some people may not take notice of the posters along each side of the walls of the tunnel, but I would usually look at them at the end of the night when leaving the Magic Kingdom. The posters are vintage advertisement artwork of rides among the Magic Kingdom like Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. My family liked these posters so much that we purchased the Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion posters to be hung in my little brother's room.
Garden Art
Disney World has an eye for detail even when it comes to their landscaping. In front of the main gates there is a mural of Mickey Mouse made from flowers and greenery. Epcot is where Imagineers have shined in their sculpting designs of characters out of shrubbery. You could pass by anything from a giant stegosaurus to Fantasia's dancing hippos. So next time you're at Epcot, stop and smell the roses.
Money Money Money
If you visited Disney World from 1987 to 2016 you may remember Disney Dollars. Just think regular dollar bills but with the main Disney characters on them. We had trouble spending them because my family wanted to keep them as souvenirs.
Cinderella's Castle
One year my parents splurged and spent the the over priced cost of eating in Cinderella's Castle where you may get a short visit from Minnie or another character. But the restaurant isn't what I like. My favorite part of the castle is the tile art pieces. I feel like Cameron from Ferris Bueller's Day Off staring into the Georges Seruts' painting Sunday Afternoon on the Island la Grande Jatte. Five panels of mosaic work tells the story of Cinderella with 300,000 tiles total with 500 different colors. The biggest Crayola crayon box I had consisted of only 120 different colors. I can't help but think of how long it took to create these pieces. Also, how many artist it took to complete. So I did some research. It took 22 months and Dorothea Redmond was the artist that designed all five panels. Hanns Scharff and six other artist had the job of assembling Dorothea's masterpiece. Walt Disney World is full of so many different kinds of artwork.
Souvenirs
I'm not much of a souvenir shopper when I go on vacation. At Disney World though, I could probably go a little crazy with buying items if I had a ton of cash. As a child there were several must-have items. First was the popular Mickey Mouse Ears Hat just like the Mouseketeers wore. I picked out a red one and wore it proudly until I took them off for Captain EO starring Michael Jackson. Alas, forgetting to retrieve it when the show ended I lost my hat forever. If you can't tell, I'm still scarred from that moment. I have purchased a new one as an adult, but nothing can fully replace my first Mickey hat.
Another souvenir that holds a special memory is Captain Hook's toy hook. The reason why it's special is simply the bond it created with my little brother and me. We posed for pictures wearing our hooks acting like Pirates with one eye closed and sneers on our faces. We were not embarrassed to be goofy because we were having fun. We recreated that picture later as adults, still refusing to grow up.
Can I have your autograph?
I had a mission when I was around eight years old wandering around Disney World: find characters and get their autograph. I felt so cool with my yellow Donald Duck autograph book. Of course when I approached characters I became shy and just held out my book for them to sign. Each character had their own style of writing their names, adding a fun touch. My favorite signatures were from Dale and Eeyore. Dale added his two buck teeth under his name and gloomy Eeyore sprawled his detached tail.
