The Happiest Place On Earth

No, we did not buy this ;-)

It's been a lot longer than I intended since my last post. It turns out that Internet at the Disney resorts costs quite a bit of money per day.  Since we are at Disney in the first place, we are already splurging a bit on the cost of food (for the sake of convenience) and also just buying things we don't need, like lattes, treats to eat, and souvenirs. It is, after all, a vacation. We budgeted for those extravagances. We did not, however, think we'd need to budget for wireless Internet in our room. I would (and did) assume that a resort would include it as one of the amenities offered to guests during their stay. Thankfully, I remembered my smart phone is smart enough to provide me with Internet access wherever I happen to be.

Cinderella's Castle
decked out for Christmas

And I happen to be at Disney World, "the happiest place on earth."

And we are very happy! I didn't know how I'd feel being here just after my monthly smack in the face that I'm not pregnant, especially since Christmas at Disney is one of the busiest times of the year. I knew there would be kids running all over the place, even more adorable than usual because of the magic of this place. But it's actually been quite fun, for both of us.

As close as I could get to
capturing the "happy" moments ;-)

We find the tantrums from exhaustion slightly adorable, the kids in costume completely precious, and the frantic adults pushing weary or sleeping children in strollers all over the park absolutely hilarious! :-)  I've been working on capturing an image to depict "the happiest place on earth" in all it's glory, but I haven't been fast enough with my camera.

My favorite missed moment was the image of a family standing in line for a ride, their little boy hanging on one of the rope-links used as a divider with his mouth chewing on the rope while his older sister stood screaming and beating her dad's legs as the dad looked helplessly ahead, willing the line to move faster. It was priceless. It made me smile.

Now, before you go jumping to conclusions, I don't delight in these scenarios out of spite or malice. Trust me, I've watched enough kids on my own and experienced plenty of those moments of desperation to know that it's neither pleasant nor fun. But I've been there and survived. Granted, the kids were not my own, but I'm looking forward to the day they are. And if that day never comes, I can still appreciate the situation when I see it.

So many parents bring their kids to Disney in anticipation of the great time that will be had by all. They want to experience all the sights and sounds, and they try to squish all the activities into a period of a few days. It's not cheap to come to Disney, remember. So the kids get exhausted, miss their naps, eat more junk food than usual, and conk out or freak out.  Then the parents either scold them with threats of taking away prized treasures and promised excursions, or else cave in helplessly with a look that says, "Why did we come here?"

Little princesses!  :-)

So, when I see a meltdown here at Disney, I try to let my countenance show that I'm not bothered or negatively affected by the situation, hoping that will encourage the parents to extend a bit more grace than usual, since it's supposed to be the happiest place on earth.

As for the precious moments, they steal my heart. We've seen so many tiny princesses and Tinkerbells running around with an air of royalty and daintiness that I feel I should curtsy and call them "your majesty" with a smile. We've seen young pirates, space rangers and cowboys, eyes wide in wonder of the things they see around them. One young boy, while standing in line for food, turned to his dad and said emphatically, "This is the BEST day EVER, Daddy!" Like I said, it stole my heart.

This is one of many of my favorite moments observed

My husband and I walk around, observing these scenes, and hope to one day have the opportunity to bring our own children here to experience the magic of Disney. As it is, I'm extremely grateful to be able to walk around with the feeling of a newlywed on a honeymoon, and I'm also as thankful that my frame of mind is such that I can enjoy living vicariously through the parents I see here. Here's hoping the mind-set lasts :-)

Merry Christmas!