The following story is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the incredibly stupid....
My family and I are huge Disney fans - we have a nice collection of Disney DVD's started, our rec-room is a shrine to all things Disney (Mickey Mouse phone, a Disney princess playroom, etc.), our two-year-old daughter is convinced she's Tinkerbell (she was conceived with some happy thoughts and pixie dust, so who knows!) and if the Disney company ever reveals that Walt is indeed frozen, we'd probably try to bid for him on e-bay. He'd look nice next to the big screen T.V. So now that I have hopefully painted a successful scary picture of our obsession, you will probably conclude that the Mecca for Disney nuts like us is - of course - Walt Disney World.
It was with great excitement that we set out for Florida in our pimped-out Disney mini van (um, "pimped" is not an officially licensed word that the Disney company uses to describe things - so don't tell them). Have you seen a tan mini van with a Mickey Mouse antennae ornament, a Disney trimmed license plate frame that reads, "Been there, done that, going back", and soap-written words on the windows that read, "Disney World or Bust"? Yeah, that's us - we know we're idiots, just keep driving.
Once in the "most magical place on Earth", we pulled out all the stops. We went to character breakfasts to get Chip and Dale's autographs (which in Disney World, are not hunky men wearing nothing but a bow tie and a g-string). We spent way too much money in the gift shops buying stupid hats. Side note - only in Disney World can a person be taken seriously by others while wearing a Goofy hat with floppy ears. We ate all the best foods - Dole Whips, Chocolate Covered Mickey Ear Ice Cream Bars, and Ghiradelli Hot Fudge Sundaes which, if I want to keep this a family-friendly post, I won't say what they were better than. Let's just say that if I had eaten a Ghiradelli's Hot Fudge Sundae before I met my husband, I would be an overweight single woman with no kids.
It was on our first visit to the Magic Kingdom where we made our fatal mistake. So happy and excited were we to actually be at the House of Mouse, that we hastily parked our car, collected all our supplies for the day (stroller, video camera, stupid hats, etc), and took the monorail over the moat that separates the parking lot from the Magic Kingdom.....without making a mental note of where we had actually parked the car. We quickly came to realize our mistake at 10:00 at night after an exhausting day of fun when we got off the monorail, scanned the vast expanse that is the Magic Kingdom parking lot, and realized we were going to play a game that wasn't anywhere in our Disney Travel guides, but was a major motion picture - Dude, Where the Hell is our Car?
The Magic Kingdom parking lot is so huge that there are tram-cars that transport Disney visitors to the furthest realms and outer regions of the asphalt expanse for those unfortunate enough to be parked there. We at least knew, thankfully, that we were not in that category. We had been one of the first families to arrive, so our car was somewhere up near the front of the lot. That still did not make our job any easier. Our effort in futility began with an incredulous statement from my husband, "Let's just look for a tan mini van near the front."
"Um, honey - that describes every other mini van in this parking lot", I say trying to stay positive.
"Yes, but ours has the Mickey Mouse antennae ornament on it."
"Have you forgotten where we are vacationing!?" I say looking at an array of bobbing Mickey Mouse antennaes starring back at me.
"Well, I remember that we were parked facing grass...."my husband says with a thoughtful stare like he's Columbo trying to figure out "who dunnit".
At this point, I was thinking to myself that I hope my husband is never called to be an eye-witness for a criminal case because his testimony might begin with, "Well, I remember he had a face..."
" I think we are parked in one of the sections named after a Dwarf..."says my hopeful husband.
"You do know that there are seven Dwarfs, right?" (and I'm thinking that we are probably parked in the "Dopey" section)
"Ahh Crap."
Well, after a bit of aimless wandering and a little Divine Intervention, we found our mini van (parked facing grass) in the Minnie Mouse section ( she was the elusive eighth dwarf in Snow White, but got left on the cutting room floor). Next time, we're taking a plane. Hopefully we'll remember what terminal we board at or we'll have a lot of convincing to do when we try telling our kids that Disney World has been moved to Cleveland.
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5 comments:
My girlfriend offered my son and I and a friend of his a trip to Disney. I hesitated because I'm handicapped and wasn't sure how much "fun" I would be. But how can you turn down an all expense paid trip to Disney? It rained the first 3 days we were there, and since we were so used to the rain, on the 4th day it was clear and sunny, we all got burned pretty bad. Spent a day at Universal. We had fun, never lost the car.....handicapped parking comes in handy sometimes. By the time we got back to Ohio 14 days later I was so exhausted I didn't leave the house for about a month. Forgot to mention, my girlfriend brought her 4 adult children, flew two of them in from out west. A good time was had by all. That was my first and last trip to Disney. June 2003
Once again you make me laugh! Wish I could have been the little fly on the mouse ears to watch that whole process!
Oh my goodness, that is so true! We go every year in March, and every year, I see this scenario play out in one parking lot or another. Our vehicle is pretty easy to find; it's a *car*. Don't see too many of those amongst the sea of vans and SUVs, I must say. Thanks for the laugh and the memories!
That was too funny! Being a Florida Resident and an annual passholder that goes to Disney at least once a month with my son. I was reading the sluthing part telling the comuter screan you're in Minnie Mouse, You're in Minnie Mouse.. Go to the yellow poles and the security guys will help you find it.
Glad you had a great pilgramage and on your next drop Hunt and I a line we'll show you all the tricks :-) and visit my blog I have Disney tips now and then since we LOVE Disney too.
Hollie and Hunter
www.hunterryansmom.blogspot.com
LOL That story was a hoot and so true to life!!
Dianna
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