I’ve been to Walt Disney World twice as an adult. Once in 2010 with just my wife, and then again in 2015 with our daughter. I was sitting here feeling a little nostalgic for that most magical of places on Earth when I came across this sort of survey. I’m not making any headlines when I say that I’m a sucker for nostalgia, so I decided to take a quick stroll down memory lane and fill it out. Here it is!
10 WALT DISNEY WORLD QUESTIONS
1. What’s the Date of Your First Trip to Walt Disney World?
I first visited Walt Disney World in 1991. At least I think it was ’91. It might have been ’90. Doesn’t matter. I was a kid! My family and I had made several visits to Six Flags Over Texas at this point, and I was quite the theme park aficionado. Adorable, right? Yeah, I had NO IDEA what I was in store for at Walt Disney World! The whole vacation is a magical blur now, but my very first memory from this trip was riding the ferry to the Magic Kingdom, looking out over the water, and seeing a speedboat zip by with Mr. Smee. He was waving at everyone on the boat, but those other chumps can gush on their own blog. As far as I’m concerned, the dumpy little pirate was welcoming ME!
And that was all it took. From that point forward, this place would be my obsession.
2. Who Was the First Character You Met at Walt Disney World?
Well as I said, Mr. Smee, although I think who ever came up with this survey meant meeting face-to-face and not waving at from a distance. As I said, he was waving directly at me, but whatever. I’ll play ball. The specifics of that first trip are a little fuzzy so instead, I’ll be fast-forwarding to the year 2010 when I first returned to Walt Disney World.
It was just my wife and I, and waiting in line to meet characters wasn’t high on our list of priorities. We knew it wasn’t actually Cinderella. It was just some intern named Denise or something. Boy, were we smart or what?! We strolled through Cinderella’s Castle a teary mess from the avalanche of emotion and when we looked to our left, there was the Fairy Godmother! Not Joyce or Helen! No! THE Fairy Godmother! We quickly lined up alongside the magical stones (that’s what the cast member referred to them as and we definitely weren’t going to argue) and a few minutes later we were having our picture made with Ms. Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo herself!
3. What Was Your First Ride at Walt Disney World?
Wow. I’m only two down and I’ve already rambled quite a bit. I’ll try to make this quick.
It was Dumbo.
4. What’s Your Favorite Ride at Walt Disney World?
My favorite ride at Disney World is at my LEAST favorite park. It’s Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom! Ohhhhhh man, I love this thing! It’s packed with thrills but not to the point where you want to vomit, you know? Plus, I love the little breaks you get that feel like an eternity right before you’re sent zipping back through the dark!
The first time I rode this ride was during Late Extra Magic Hours and there was only a 10-minute wait, so I went on it twice! Back-to-back! On the second time, the cast member liked my DuckTales shirt and sent me to the front car! There was no real point in me mentioning that last bit other than pointing out one more way that DuckTales has improved my life.
5. What’s Your Favorite Show at Walt Disney World?
My favorite show, also from Animal Kingdom, is The Festival of the Lion King. (Why is it my least favorite park?!?) Other shows such as Voyage of the Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast – Live On Stage cram an hour and a half worth of story into a 10 minute show. Of course, I still find these shows EXTREMELY entertaining, but only because chaos makes me smile. The Festival of the Lion King doesn’t worry about story. It’s just a spectacular (and I mean SPECTACULAR) celebration where we can all sing along to the movie’s popular songs. That’s all we really want, right?
Also… a dude licks fire! Chaos box checked!
6. What’s the RAREST Character You’ve Met at Walt Disney World?
Having only been to the parks twice in my adult life, I’m not really sure what counts as a rare character. Max Goof? Lotso? Clarabell Cow? It’s definitely rare for me to run into any of these… people(?) But hey, what do I know? I’m antisocial.
My wife danced with George Sanderson from Monsters, Inc. That seemed pretty random at the time and was certainly rare. Will that count as an acceptable answer? Judges?
…
I’m told they’ll allow it.
7. What’s Your Favorite Walt Disney World Snack?
While I will gladly shovel down all the Dole Whips and Mickey Bars you can throw at me, the absolute best snack I ever had at Disney World was a heart-shaped waffle with strawberries and powdered sugar. It was in Epcot at the Kringla Bakeri and it might have been one of those right place/right time situations, but it’s very fitting that it was shaped like a heart… because I fell in love that day, my friends.
I fell in love.
8. Which Character Do You Wish Would Return for Meets?
Oh, I don’t even have to think about this one. The Gummi Bears.
I can’t use the clapping hands emoji here on the blog, but if I could…
THE
*clap emoji
GUM
*clap emoji
MI
*clap emoji
BEARS!
*clap emoji
9. What Would Be Your Disney Dream Job?
I’ve obsessed over Disney World for years and yet I wasn’t aware of the Citizens of Main Street until AFTER our last trip in 2015. I plan on doing a whole post about them in the future, but they’re basically street performers that sing and do a little improv with the guests in turn of the century costumes. I know how I said that I’m antisocial, but we’re talking about a dream here and in this dream, I’m a Citizen of Main Street!
I could be anything, like.. I don’t know… maybe a disheveled but lovable hobo named Boxcar T. Cobb! He’s homeless, but you know… by choice! Or maybe Main Street’s local handyman, Stanley Jiffyfixer! Both would probably involve juggling.
I’ve devoted a lot of time to thinking about this one thing.
10. What Do You Miss MOST About Walt Disney World?
Judging from the other answers I saw, I think this question was intended to mean ‘What did Disney World used to do or have that you wished they still did?’ For example, “the cupcakes used to have more sprinkles,” or “what happened to all the Chicken Little merchandise?” I don’t really go enough to have a strong opinion on this sort of thing, so instead I’ll talk about what I miss the most when I’m not there. It’s an ambiguous answer, but basically, it’s the overall feel of just being in the parks. The second you step onto that Magical Express, you’re whisked away to a fairy tale state of whimsy, the likes of which only Disney can conjure.
Some people aren’t Disney fans. Some people aren’t theme park fans. Some people aren’t fans, period! OF ANYTHING! It doesn’t matter! Anyone from anywhere who finds themselves in Walt Disney World will end up with a genuine smile on their face! Space Mountain is great, but that’s what I miss most.
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