Guest Blogger: Disney Differences Part 1

Gentle readers, please welcome my hubby - A Dad With Mouse Ears - in his first guest blog post for my site. Below is part one of a two-part series he's dubbed 'The Fun Box'. Enjoy.

The Fun Box

I can point out exactly my first trip to Disney as an adult, since there was a clear delineation. Growing up, my mother worked for the airlines (Eastern – “If you had wiiinnggssss….”, then Continental), so while we were a working class family we were able to take several trips to Disney a year. We were there when it was just one park (Can you believe that at one point there was just the Magic Kingdom? And that people used to vacation at that one park for A FULL WEEK?), we were there when you could ride the Epcot monorail through the under-construction Epcot Center, we were there on Epcot’s opening day (in sum: long lines and Waffle House dinner), we were there when you could look out from the edge of River Country USA and make out the spires of Cinderella’s Castle, we were there when Disney Village (now Springs) was just a gift shop and the steamboat with two guys in white suits doing a Smothers Brothers act.

But then one day I went to high school, and suddenly I was too cool for it all. My parents continued to take trips – my twin sister would even join them – but to me all those rides and parades and college kids in big-head costumes were just a pile of LAME.

Then, at the turn of the millennium, as a young adult, I decided to join my family in a trip to Disney. My motivation was more to spend time with my family than to enjoy Disney itself, since I couldn’t think of any attraction that would interest me. What I found out, though, was that as a young adult I wasn’t limited to the same things I remembered from my childhood – instead, I could pick from an entirely new box of fun.

Taking a walk through the Contemporary! Hoisting a pilsner at the Biergarten! Looking for tigers at the walking safari! Enjoying some “glace” in France! Taking a load off on the People Mover (TTS)! Singing along to Off Kilter (RIP)!

While some of these things were relatively new at the time, many of them had been around when I was a kid. They just were not part of the childhood fun box (rides, characters, candy, etc.). As a young adult, I had an entirely new Disney fun box to play with.

Five years later, my girlfriend and I were planning our first vacation together. We talked about the Caribbean, we talked about the Dominican Republic, but remembering how much fun I had with my family, I suggested Disney. It took some persuading, as she also only remembered her childhood fun box (see: LAME), but I was able to convince her that it would be worth the investment.

How did it go? Well, she’s now my wife, and the proprietor of this very Disney blog.

Through the years we’ve found that the young adult Disney fun box is tightly packed. Rope drop! Giant cupcakes! The Magical Express (even the back to the airport “sad bus”)! Riding Test Track during Extra Magic Hours! Exploring the Magic Kingdom past midnight on the nights the Cruise Line makes port! Watching the fireworks from the California Grill! Staying late enough in Epcot to see all the remaining fireworks from Illuminations explode! Bands in the American Pavilion! Raglan Road in Disney Springs! The slow boat ride from Epcot to Hollywood Studios! British Invasion/Revolution! Everything about the Polynesian!

Then, almost three years ago, our son was born. While two fun boxes closed, three new ones appeared.