W and I went to Florida for the wedding of his childhood friend. I don't really consider DisneyWorld to be the kind of place I'd ever go as an adult, without kids (and W and I analyzed while there that the ideal age range for a kid to go is between 4 and 13 - old enough to know what's going on but not old enough to be mortified of one's parents). Regardless, we had a really great time.

We stayed at the Disney resort itself - a sprawling maze of themed resorts, heated pools, attractions ams carefully coordinated shuttle buses. We chose the Port Orleans French Quarter, because it was considered a mid-level resort and because we found the theme to be kind of hysterical.



Overall, it was a fine place to stay. The guestroom was decent and the pool was great (I'm such a landlocked girl, far preferring the calm, heated waters of an inground pool over the unpredictable salty, splashy water of the ocean!). The food court, though, left much to be desired (overpriced greasy fare and coffee tasting like styrofoam).

We spent Saturday at the Magic Kingdom, and I was quite surprised at how nostalgic I felt on many of the rides. It's interesting how much an iconic experience gets woven into one's memories. I love that W is up for going all-out when we travel. As soon as we entered the park, we made a beeline for the mouse-ear-embroidered-hat shoppe.

My favorite ride, of course, is still the Haunted Mansion. Small improvements have been made, but overall the experience seemed to be mostly the same.

I also had intangible, find memories of the Enchanted Tiki Room, and was disappointed to find that the annoying parrot from Aladdin (voiced by Gilbert Gofdfry) was added and the show completely changed. It was loud, obnoxious and included music by Miami Sound Machine. When we left the show, I was furiously ranting on about how they shouldn't change a thing and revert back to the 1960s. Despite realizing that I sounded like a cranky old lady, I was still mad. (When I got home, I promptly downloaded the "Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room" song.)

It's kind of creepy how strongly gender roles are reinforced at Disney. I guess the princesses have become a big "thing," after the new wave of "strong willed but looking for love" Disney cartoons in the early 90s. A new attraction is the "Bibbity Bobbity Boutique" in Downtown Disney, where little girls pick out a princess outfit and have there hair and makeup done in classic Disney princess style. They also get a pink sash to wear, announcing that they've been to the salon (as though the glittery slicked up bun, makeup, tiara and princess costume weren't obvious enough). It made me kind of sad, because I'm sure I would have never been allowed to have the BBB experience, cost wise. Sometimes I wish I had had the experience of having my girlishnss indulged as a child. What would it have been like to have an expensive store-bought official costume and pretty long hair and a tiara?

I was excited to see the Hall of Presidents, where robots of all the old presidents talk and move. I remember it being boring as a child, but I thought it would be better as an adult.

Nope. Boring in 1983, boring in 1988, boring in 2008. The animatronics are pretty amazing though. Maybe if they'd just ditch that colonial times video that takes up half the time, and maybe if they let the more obscure "presidents" speak. (Rutherford Hays, Chester Arthur? Those guys were presidents?? Just saying.)

We had planned on leaving the Magic Kingdom around 2pm, leaving time for a visit to MGM. But before we knew it, it was 5pm!

We jetted over to Epcot with only enough time to ride Spaceship Earth. I had just started bitching about how the ride needed to be updated (the animatronics ended with old computers) when the ride did this awesome interactive thing in each seat. It's hard to explain, but I was impressed.

I wish we had more time at Epcot, since I think I would have really enjoyed it. And man, that globe thing is actually really beautiful! I couldn't stop taking pictures of it.



We watched the fireworks show in a special reserved area for the wedding guests. It was mostly nice, aside from the mother of the bride accusing us of crashing the wedding. No joke, and she didnt even apologize. I'm still fairly pissed off about it.

On Sunday, W and I checked out Celebration. We had heard all kinds of creepy things about it-- new urbanism, Disney ownership, cultish residents, etc -- but I found aspects of it to be quite nice. There are lots of walking trails, a public fountain to play in, rocking chairs by the water, a town square, etc. Don't get me wrong-- it's still not totally cool in my book to create a highly regulated "city" where only upper middle class white families can afford to live, financially and culturally, and is owned by a large corporation and is exempt from county laws and such. I think cities should be inclusive and somewhat chaotic/organic.



One more creepy thing- the town does simulated fall and winter. This means that fake fall leaves are placed on sidewalks during autumn and streetlamps emit small bubbles to mimic snow in winter. I am not joking.

Thankfully, my very first friend from college, Darlene, drive us to both Celebration and Old Town! It was great to see her, and we would never have known about Old Town. Old Town very much reminded me of downtown Vegas-- the old, grittier strip of tourist attractions and faded glamor. It also made me remember a hotel called Wilson World, where we stayed in 1988. I remember it being luxurious, with a gorgeous indoor pool with a huge waterfall I could swim under. I Googled it when I got home, only to find that it's now a Red Roof Inn. (I suspect my perception of "luxury" was not what it is today.) Another surprising and fond memory of Disney!



In my Google search, I found a message board of people sharing memories of the hotel. It was kind of like recently when I realized that several women in my office once owned a cassette tape by a group called The Party that I was once obsessed with. I'm having these experiences a lot recently, where I find someone with the same passionate childhood markers of time that I have. It's thrilling to discuss them.

The wedding was exceptionally classy, though it was difficult to get W to dance. I guess this is one of the drawbacks of not bringing a gay date.

After the wedding, we made our way via shuttle bus to the Boardwalk resort, styled to look like a 1920s boardwalk. W was thoroughly creeped out, but forgot his discomfort inside Jellyroll's Piano Bar (thanks, Darlene!), where two dueling piano players sang and took requests.

As much as I'm not a Disney person, I have to admit that they have their shit together at the resort. A shuttle picks you up from the airport, and they check you in and check your bags going home. The entire resort is connected by a complicated series of highways. Fascinating.

Labels: childhood, deep thoughts, globetrotting