Day 43: It's just like I've always dreamed it would be!-- Wendy Darling

"It's just like I've always dreamed it would be!"-- Wendy Darling, Peter Pan

After Peter Pan has them land on a cloud overlooking Neverland, Wendy says this line.

Have you ever wanted to go somewhere so bad you started to dream of what it would be like or dream of things you'd want to do while there? Perhaps, in this modern day and age, you looked up your dream vacation and began to plan where you'd stay or what you'd do. Then once you get there it either is better than what you've dreamed or your worst nightmare because of false advertising, or just how you dreamed.

Let's take my first trip to Walt Disney World as an example. I've been a huge Disney fan for as long as I can remember and grew up watching The Disney Channel (it was one of our approved "don't need an adult to watch" channels as kids). When I was in 5th Grade, I wanted to become a Disney Animator if I couldn't be a stay at home mom like my mom was with me and my little sister. So I did everything to learn how the animators draw, the history of Disney, everything I could get my hands on Disney wise I absorbed it, and stayed up on more than one occasion past my bedtime watching Vault Disney where they'd play old Disneyland and The Mickey Mouse Club episodes from 12a-2a, before the channel went off air til 5a (which I wish they'd bring back!!!!). A few years later in 1997, I got accepted into The Animation Class at The Disney Institute. It was a 1 day class that took place on Christmas Day. I cannot tell you how happy I was when my parents told me that I was entered in and accepted to that class for my Christmas Present that year. 15-year-old me was so happy words cannot explain.

We went as a family down to Walt Disney World for the first time in our popup Coleman camper. Our expectations were high: we were going to Walt Disney World after all. We expected temps to be in the 80s with lots of sun, Cinderella's Castle looking as majestic as ever, EPCOT full of discoveries and edu-tainment, and lots of movie magic at Disney's MGM Studios. What we got was tons of rain, so much so it flooded our K.O.A. campsite and we had to move within the first two days, and COLD. Even though we're from North Central Arkansas and used to colder winters, it took us by surprise because we did not expect sunny Central Florida to get up to only the high 40s/low 50s during the day! So we all ended up buying sweatshirts at WDW on the first day we went. We also did not expect to see Cinderella's Castle dressed up like a PeptoBismol Pink birthday cake for Magic Kingdom's 25th anniversary. Boy did that disappoint the purists in our family (me and Mom)! We were not expecting to see that gaudy god-awful looking castle! Huge hint to Disney if they are reading this: for the love of all things Mickey please DO NOT DO THAT AGAIN and bring back Vault Disney and EPCOT's Dancing Arches! We still got our obligatory pictures in front of the castle but it sure was NOT what we wanted for our first trip to Magic Kingdom. Those were the biggest let downs of our first trip.

As for the going above and beyond part, the cast members were all wonderful, one cast member went so far as to change her nametag to Grace the next time we saw her to check in for our Castle meal because my cousin who was with us thought her name was Grace because she was so "graceful"! I loved seeing The Christmas Parade at Magic Kingdom, seeing the characters, riding the rides, getting my first taste of theme-park freedom when my family went on Pirates of The Caribbean and I did not ride (yay for being old enough, though I didn't stray far). One of our biggest family highlights was getting to eat at Cinderella's Royal Table, even though it was fully booked. There was one family who cancelled and we got a window seat! We also loved The Candlelight Processional and The Dancing Arches over the bridge from Future World and The World Showcase. The video below is not my own and is a full copy of the show that was the same in 1997 as in 2008.

We also re-fell in love with The Osbourne Family Lights, which we got to see once in Little Rock before the whole fiasco between The Osbournes and The State of Arkansas took place and Disney intervened to bring it to Walt Disney World (which again needs to be brought back).

 Yet of all the wonderful family time we had, my most vivid memories stem from when we went through The Magic of Disney Animation tour at Disney's MGM Studios (now Disney's Hollywood Studios) and my Animation Class at The Disney Institute. Mom and me did the walk-through Animation tour while my little sister and dad did one of the bigger thrill rides. She had such a hard time keeping me up with the group because I just wanted to sit and watch the animators work on Mulan and Tarzan in "The Fishbowl" as the animators there loved to call it and then again to watch the animator draw a character right in front of us and ask questions directly in the next room. I went through that tour at least twice that day. Thankfully my mom was very patient knowing how much I love Disney Animation and knew I wouldn't get another chance to go for a long time (which ended up being 3 years later for my H.S. Graduation present); so she tagged along. For the Disney Institute class, it was just me alone. So while I was in that my mom, dad and sister went and saw the alligators and some other scenery before they got me. My class was from 9-5 and there was at least 30 of us high schoolers in the room. My most favorite part was coloring in an actual Disney Animation Cel with the same paint the people I idolized used. I still have that picture of Rolly and Patch infront of a dog bowl. While I could have been a traditionalist and painted them their normal colors, I decided to color them in a patchwork style, each pup was painted with different colors. If I can find it I'll post it here. If not, just imagine the pups getting into many paint cans like they did the ashes during the movie (I'm pretty sure that was my logic back then).  I also got a little flip book to practice my animation skills. I still have that book too. I do wish they would bring that class and the Magic of Animation Tour but sadly that won't happen since both buildings have been closed. I also loved getting to learn how to draw the Disney characters and bought some How-To-Draw Disney character books, which I still have and cherish.

So while our first impressions of Walt Disney World were dampened by the weather and that PeptoBismol monstrosity they called Cinderella's Castle, all of the good things that came from it, like my sister and me actually agreeing and not fighting as siblings do and having many firsts, overshadowed the bad that we had happen. Even though it didn't turn out how we dreamed, it turned out better inspite of everything.

Until next time, Keep Cooking With Character!