As I sat in a luxurious black car heading to Disney World, I felt a bit like the lead character in the movie, Thirteen Going on Thirty. Leaving the conference center with everyone dressed in business attire and suits, I hummed songs from The Little Mermaid and felt giddy with excitement for my evening ahead. Sure, I was alone and I only had a few hours, but how could I go on a last-minute business trip to Orlando without also going to the Magic Kingdom?!
When I got back from my around-the-world trip before starting business school, my father laughed at my photos -- saying that I did everything that I had wanted to do as a child -- ride hot air balloons, go scuba diving, pet kangaroos and koalas. Tyler even has a name for these moments, often saying, "Okay, seven year old, Trish".
So this past Saturday night, 35-year old Trish took 7-year old Trish out to the Magical World of Disney. Truth be told, I was a little nervous. On our cross-country road trip coming home from India, Tyler and I went to Disneyland with his best man, Mike, and his girlfriend Ceci. We got to Cindarella's castle and both wondered, "Um, is there a different castle somewhere else?? -- why is this so small?!"
And there were inklings of that this time as well... Driving to Magic Kingdom, I saw the monorail -- a dingy, old-fashion-looking tram that I remember being fascinated with as a kid -- it looked so futuristic and fast and clean!! (and I just couldn't believe it went directly from our hotel to the most magical place on earth!!)
I laughed as the driver dropped me off, giving me his card, looking into my eyes, and saying with full earnestness: "If you feel at all unsafe coming back at night by yourself, you just go ahead and give me a call and I'll come pick you up. Feeling unsafe in Disney?!
Riding the monorail to the Magic Kingdom, I got my first glimpse of Cindarella's castle and literally gasped from excitement. Let's do this!!
If the monorail remains a bit of a time capsule, other aspects of Disney seem quite futuristic. While I went traditional with an old-school ticket, as I entered the park, I noticed many families had Disney "Magic Bands", which were launched earlier this year (great article here). These bands are a CRM-geek's dream, allowing Disney to track guests throughout the parks and resorts with RFID readers. Everyone seems to love them -- they allow guests to check into Fastpass rides (another innovation since childhood) and purchase Disney items and photos (I saw little boys having a field day in the candy store with these!). In return, Disney gets all sorts of customer data (what rides you go on, what you eat and where, how long you stay) -- in a way that should be scary, but you kindda give them the benefit of the doubt to make the happiest place on earth even happier.
All worries of being underwhelmed went out the door as soon as I entered the park. Disney was dressed up for Christmas, with Christmas songs playing on Main Street and decorations galore.
I stopped at a stand and bought myself Minnie ears -- if I'm going to do this, might as well do this right!! True confession: I really did want the princess ears with the pretty pink and purple glitter. Alas, that was probably too much, seeing as I'd be walking around by myself and all, without anyone to attest that I'm really not crazy.
Instead, I went for the glow-in-the-dark Minnie ears. Much more sophisticated.
As it turned out, I arrived that park in perfect timing, just in time for the lighting ceremony at Cindarella's castle. And it wasn't just any lighting ceremony, but one with the characters from Frozen. As Elsa started to transform the castle into an ice palace, all the kids were oohing and ahhing from the incredible light show. Then as projected lights gave way to actual lights, accompanied with white fireworks and "Let it Go" instrumentals, I found myself and all the adults around me genuinely oohing and ahhing ourselves. "Wow" came out of my mouth about half a dozen times during the show. Yoga and meditation have an expression for this: "child's eyes" or "beginner's eyes". If you want the capitalist version of that, just come to Disney (the full moon and clear night certainly helped):
Walking away from Main Street and heading to the rides, I had my first flash of self-consciousness: am I really going to go on rides by myself? As it turns out, I got over that really quickly. Thunder Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, and It's a Small World were just as much fun as I remember (in fact, as soon as I finished Thunder Mountain, I considered going right back on line again).
Even though I was massively jetlagged and tired (having just arrived from Korea a few hours before), I definitely wanted to stay for the fireworks. In fact, I had a plan: see fireworks, head to Space Mountain while all the families leave the park, and then head home when the monorail is less crowded.
Turns out, everyone seemed to have the same idea. One hour wait at Space Mountain at 10:30pm. I decide to do the adult, responsible thing and head home, seeing as I had sessions and meetings early the next morning. On my way out though, I hear music and investigate: the Incredibles are having a dance party! How can I leave now?! Ignoring the voice in my head ("you'll look dumb dancing alone!"), I head out to the middle and dance away. Turns out when you're dancing with cartoon characters, it's actually hard to feel that self-conscious.
Completely amped from the dance party, I ditch the idea of an early night in, and instead head back over to Space Mountain. I'd show you the picture of me screaming, but Disney has gotten much more sophisticated in making you buy their photos (no more taking pictures of the screen!).
As I head out of the park, the Electric Parade is in full swing, which gives me more time to ogle over Cindarella's Castle -- it really looks like something from a faraway magical land.
I go to bed humming "Let It Go", grateful that it's apparently possible to not outgrow the magic.
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