5 Most Unforgettable Moments from My Disney Vacation
Every Walt Disney World vacation is magical. No matter when you go or how long you visit, you’ll have an unforgettable time, chockful of memories that will last a lifetime. My most recent trip was no different, and I’d like to add a touch of pixie dust into your life by sharing a few highlights. Here are the five most unforgettable moments from my Disney vacation.
Beautiful Sadness
Disney’s Make-A-Wish program is internationally recognized as the gold standard. Kids from around the world attend Disney theme parks, temporarily forgetting their problems in the Disney Bubble. During a character greeting, my wife and I got to watch the powerful impact that cast members can have on these kids.
The situation started negatively. My wife chose to stand in line for a character meeting with Sadness and Joy from Inside Out. The line…well, it didn’t move. She was fourth in line for so long that friends of ours completed the adjoining Baymax character meeting while she stood still.
When my wife was second, I stood outside the line queue and distractedly people-watched a bit. Suddenly, a pair of girls arrived on the scene. Both of them were under the age of five, and a cast member escorted them to the front of the line. It became apparent that the younger sister participated in the Make-A-Wish program.
The costumed cast members sprang into action. For the next 10 minutes, they gave their complete attraction to the kids, who delightedly exchanged laughs with one another. The older sister, already fiercely protective at a young age, relished this rare opportunity to watch her sister simply feel happy for a change. The two of them repeatedly cackled as Joy and Sadness filled their hearts with glee.
I was close to tears throughout the interaction. Several other observers actively wept. It was one of the most powerful things that I’ve ever seen at a Disney theme park yet something that happens several times a day. Walt Disney World might be the greatest source of pure good on the planet.
Elsa’s Castle Magic
I’ve spent a lot of time at Walt Disney World over the years. Even now, lining up the timing on something feels like that last scene in The Martian. If you miss by a few seconds, you might as well miss by a day. Once something’s over, you can’t go back.
For example, I returned to my hotel only minutes before the start of the first holiday lighting of Cinderella Castle this year. I wanted to watch the proceedings, but I wasn’t sure that I could return from the hotel on time. Friends, this is why I love Disney’s Contemporary Resort. We managed to shower, change clothes (thank God!), and get back to Magic Kingdom in time for the event.
We had just enough time to find a good spot near Casey’s Corner and watch the lighting ceremony with a few thousand of our closest friends.
Everyone in attendance seemed to have the same reaction. Onlookers wondered whether the moment would justify the aggravation of a large crowd at Cinderella Castle. Then, the moment that the holiday lights activated for the first time, you could legitimately hear a pin drop.
A Frozen Holiday Wish! The first holiday lighting of the castle! My apologies – I wanted to go live, but the WiFi was so bad and I couldn’t get a connection…I did the next best thing and recorded it. Enjoy!
Posted by MickeyBlog.com on Sunday, November 3, 2019
Everyone in the area gazed in wonder at the breathtaking sight. It more than lived up to the hype. Since Disney hosts this event nightly, I strongly encourage you to watch it while you’re visiting Walt Disney World. The service is breathtaking, and any pictures that you take will dazzle your friends.
Happily Ever After from the Back Porch
I booked a room with a Lake View on this trip. Generally, this room type guarantees a view of the pool at Bay Lake Tower plus Bay Lake. As I approached my assigned room, I initially thought that someone had made a mistake. The room number suggested that my studio would face the wrong way for a lake view.
Once I entered the room, I realized that I was staring at the other side of Bay Lake, something that I’d never done before. My wife, who is a thousand times smarter than me, quickly pointed out that we had an unexpected theme park view as well. This bonus perspective allowed us to do something incredible.
On one of our most hectic park days, we rushed home to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks from our room. It was close. We missed exactly two fireworks as we sprinted through the corridor to reach our room. My wife quickly sat on the patio while I tried to find the television remote. Disney thoughtfully pipes the fireworks music through one of the TV channels.
For the next 15 minutes, we euphorically sang and watched Happily Ever After from our hotel room. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I’ve had Go the Distance as an earworm ever since then. And this pleases me a great deal.
Splurge a bit for a better room type, my friends. It’s totally worth the extra money.
The Long Distance Fist Bump
There’s a joke in a popular videogame where you pass a background character. The person eyes you and says, “You look tough. We’re friends now.” I thought of that during a roller coaster ride.
My party had FastPasses for Slinky Dog Dash in the middle of the afternoon. I rarely pick that time for my starter FastPasses, but Slinky Dog Dash is tough to get. And it led to a hilarious bit of timing.
At one point, I rose to the top of a roller coaster hill, only to look down and notice a couple pointing up at me. Well, the dude was pointing while his lady friend gazed on with amusement. I happened to point back at him, causing a kind of thrill ride imitation of Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam. The two of them busted up at this.
Just as the coaster started to descend, I switched my pointing finger to a fist, signifying that I wanted to fist-bump the couple on the ground. In the blink of an eye and with no previous warning, the dude instinctively raised his fist and pounded back from the ground, 100 feet beneath me. Literally everyone who witnessed this event started busting up.
That guy and I are friends now. We’re fist-pounding bros for life. And I don’t even know his name. In fact, he kind of looked like Ant-Man from my perspective at the top of the hill.
A Less Tragical Express
Even the official ending of my trip came with an unexpected bit of magic. A sizeable traveling party boarded the Magical Express right in front of me. Some extremely protective grandmothers spent the majority of the airport ride turned toward the children behind me, savoring every last second of the family vacation.
One of the grandmothers held a six-month-old girl for part of the trip. This tiny little thing took quite the shine to me. She and I engaged in an extended game of Peek-A-Boo, with each round causing her to cackle with glee. She also took an interest in my Starry Night iPad cover, pointing at it happily as the resonant colors mesmerized her.
Ordinarily, the Tragical Express return to civilization signifies the worst part of my Disney vacation. This time, a happy little girl provided a serendipitous bit of Pixie Dust at the end of my vacation. I’ll remember that smile whenever I think of this most recent visit.
The random interaction is proof-positive that Disney magic can happen anytime, anywhere, during a vacation. And it’s the reason why you should speak with a Disney travel agent to book a trip immediately. You deserve that kind of joy in your life, right?