And then we were in the wonderful world of Disney! Even before you're officially on World, you can tell you're near. Our first stop was the Disney EarPort in the airport to trade pins, a main activity during our trip. Mama had pre-bought dozens of pins for the kids to trade with Cast Members (some of whom are issued pins and must trade with you) and they were ready to get started. I wasn't involved in trading and can't say what their first trades were, but they were happy to be started. We were soon in line-- with the standard "move forward filling in all available spaces"--and on the bus to the Polynesian, watching the introductory Disney video. I forget how easy it is to fall into the WDW trance: you don't have to think, just follow and fill in all the available spaces, resulting in a guaranteed "magical," delightful, easy-to-digest good time, complete with theme song and appropriate souvenir. All you need is cash; the more, the more magical. Still, and this is part of the trance, it is hard to be cynical while you're in it and so, for a week, I left behind most of my analytical faculties and just went with the Disney flow and had a great time. (I did have moments--not once in our 8 days did a family of color--besides us, I suppose, but do we really count?--get on a bus or monorail we were on to or from the resorts. Disney embraces diversity, but it is definitely divided by class and cost.)
We were greeted at the Polynesian with leis and Alohas and quickly shown to our room, located near the ceremonial house, in Aoetaroa, which we never learned how to pronounce. It was the best possible location, close to transportation and food, which we immediately sought out. We ate and immediately headed to Magic Kingdom, really the only place to start.
And of course, being me, I teared up just arriving at the train station! It had been such a long journey, a distant dream to travel, to fly, to take the kids anywhere, much less Disney World. And here we were. I had been to Disney World three times before--around age 12 or so, with my folks; age 21 with some college friends; age 30 with Mama (she had been twice before, with her family, at ages 6 and 15ish); and now, at 42 with our own kids--by far, this would be the most magical trip.
How can you describe Magic Kingdom to kids who've never been there? Unlike my first visit, they were nonplussed by the monorail, being used to subways and trains. But they were immediately awed by Main Street, so much that we didn't get too far down it! We got hats--it was very sunny and hot at 89F--and the promised stuffed critters Stitch and Thumper, part of a bribe so that they would leave their own beloved stuffies at home with babysitter M. They also picked up the new game of Sorcerer's cards that lead you through the park on hunts and battles. And at every PhotoPass photographer, we stopped for a group picture which was added to our pre-purchased plan that came with free stock photos, free character dining photos, and all the pics of us that we could possibly want, including Magic Shots, whereby the kids struck some funny pose and an image of Tinkerbell or Stitch would be added later.
By the time we wandered to the castle and up to NEW Fantasyland, it was too hot at 89F (mind you, this was almost 65 degrees more than we'd awakened to) and too crowded for us tired Yankees. We rode the carousel, always my favorite ride, and called it a day, heading back to our resort for the rest of the evening.
I don't remember if this is when we ordered our first Dole Whip, a cult among many WDW admirers. I don't recall having it before, but Mama did. It's pineapple-y soft serve non-dairy dessert. And Mama was a master at making a beautiful swirl--and fitting as much in as possible--in a cup. Bud loved it and ate one everyday; Sis preferred the vanilla flavored one. I liked the Dole Whip Float in Adventureland, which was Dole Whip in pineapple juice. Mmmmm! This would become another one of our themes (with Bud's sketches, PhotoPass pictures, Sorcerer's cards, Stitch, Thumper, pins, and more.)
But it wasn't the end of our first day, because at 8 p.m. we ventured to the nearby "beach" to watch the fireworks over Magic Kingdom. First there was a light show on the castle which didn't make much sense to us until we saw it from the park later in the week, and then came the fireworks. They were off-center from our point of view, which amused us, but were spectacular! Very bright, almost metallic at times. It was a great way to end the day.
Except the very end was even more magical: a small bunny--a real, brown bunny--crossed our path as we walked back to our room. Sis couldn't have been more thrilled. Perfect end.
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*This is a copycat recipe as the original is almost completely dairy-free, except for some thickeners, and is made from a mix. But people say it's similar.
Dole Whip
2 cans (20 oz. each) DOLE Crushed Pineapple
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/3 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, whipped
Drain pineapple; reserve 2 tablespoons juice. Set aside.
Blend the pineapple, lemon and lime juice, sugar and reserved pineapple juice until it is smooth.
Freeze about 1-2 hours.
Stir the pineapple slush into the whipped cream and freeze. Serve when completely frozen.
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