It may have been the NATS convention that took me to Orlando, Florida but it was the magic of Disney and the wonder of Sea World that took my wife there with me- and I’m glad that she and I managed to carve out some fun together-time, in between my convention obligations. Our hotel was actually right across the street from Sea World, so getting there was a piece of cake – (and Kathy spent some marvelous time there.) But getting to Disney was quite another matter, as we learned the first night we took a cab to Downtown Disney and shelled out $25 . . . ONE WAY. Disney itself is obviously a mighty expensive proposition (it costs $10 just to blow your nose there) so the thought of shelling out that kind of money day after day just to get there was pretty dispiriting. That was enough to prompt us to explore the wonderful world of Orlando public transportation, and fortunately there was a bus we could catch right in front of our hotel that only cost $2, and we were a whole lot happier after that. We ended up spending two evenings at Downtown Disney, a day and an evening at Magic Kingdom, and a day at Hollywood Studios. . . and had a ball.
I know that some people who feel like they’ve stepped into some horrifying “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” sci-fi movie when they set foot in a Disney Theme Park, deeply troubled by the extraordinary level of control that’s exerted over every facet of their operations. (I have both friends and relatives who feel this way.) I understand those concerns and once upon a time I probably even shared those concerns to some extent. But I’ve come to appreciate how that almost frightening attention to detail is why all of the parks are so extraordinarily clean and orderly- why you almost never encounter a Disney employee who is surly or inattentive- why things operate so smoothly and consistently even on the busiest days- and why you find yourself shaking your head time and time again, thinking to yourself “they’ve thought of everything!” Because they actually have. Kathy pointed out a good example of that. The day we visited Sea World, we rode to the top of their tall observation tower, which was fun- but while we were in line, waiting for our turn, we were standing in a nondescript hallway with nothing on the walls and no music piped in. It was Blaah with a capital B. You do plenty of waiting at Disney, but they find ways to make that waiting-in-line experience SO much more interesting. . . and one consequence of that is that you almost never see or hear people being crabby and impatient in line. And take it from someone whose middle name is Impatience: it is no small feat to make waiting in line an almost fun experience.
What I was struck by this time around was how amazingly international the visitors to Disney are. If you just pay attention to those around you, it becomes very clear very quickly that people stream to Disney from every corner of the globe. . . and no matter where people come from, they seem to be enraptured by many of the same stories and characters that so many of us have enjoyed over the years. One of my favorite moments this time around was at a store in Downtown Disney, when I overheard a young girl speaking to (I assume) her mother in a language I did not recognize. (I know it wasn’t Spanish, French, German or Italian.) She had a picture frame in her small hands and was painstakingly identifying each of the Disney characters who adorned the outer rim of the frame: “Mickey. . . Minnie. . . Goofy. . . Donald . . . Pluto. . . “ etc. This little girl and I could not have had much of a conversation about anything else- but we had these Disney characters in common. And there was something strangely reassuring about that.
I felt that even more during the stupendous fireworks display at the Magic Kingdom, which may be the most spectacular fireworks display in the world, especially for the way in which the visual spectacle is combined with glorious music. As Kathy and I stood there in that huge crowd, drinking it all in, I found myself keenly aware of all of the languages I was hearing around me. . . and clothing or patches or pins that identified people as being Japanese or Dutch or whatever. But there we all were, equally transfixed by what we were seeing and hearing. I’ve long believed that fireworks are the single greatest form of entertainment- greater even than music or theater. Young and old, rich and poor, wise and foolish, no matter what culture you come from or what race you are… there is something almost primeval about the way that fireworks bedazzle us. On some level does it take us back to the moment when man first discovered fire itself? Or is it just that we love a good show? And because a wonderful fireworks show involves no words and no plot to follow, there is no language barrier nor any sort of intellectual hurdles. You just stand there with your jaw agape as these wonders unfold before you. Fireworks make you feel young. They make you feel small. And somehow they make you incredibly glad to be alive.
pictured above: One moment in the fireworks show. By the way, there’s also a very cool pre-fire light show in which Cinderella’s castle is lit up in all sorts of fanciful ways. But the fireworks themselves are truly astounding, and I also love the way the castle itself is lit up with multiple colors. By the way, we’d never stood closer to the castle than we did this time around and whenever we go back, this is where I will always want to stand. No question.
P.S.- Don’t make me think about how much money gets poured into this fireworks display, which happens night after night after night. I don’t want to know the price tag.