CAPTURING DISNEY MAGIC

CAPTURING DISNEY MAGIC, PART II

So last week we discussed our visit to the Magic Kingdom. Today, we go for the triple dip: MGM, Epcot and Animal Kingdom.

We started the day with a character breakfast at one of the hotels. Allie and Parker both decided that, while Disney was great and all, they would prefer a 7-foot Goofy not sit down at our table. And giant chipmunks? No thanks.

Upon completion of the breakfast/nightmare generation experience, we headed off to Epcot, home of the international plaza featuring countries around the world, because what 3-year-old DOESN’T want to learn about the GNP of Morocco?

OK, we skipped the countries and instead went to the Living Seas. In true Disney fashion, there is an entire room devoted to “Finding Nemo” animals. Also in true Disney fashion, when you leave, there is an entire gift shop devoted to “Finding Nemo” souvenirs.

We only spent a little bit of time at Epcot, because my wife said that it would be inappropriate to take the children to the pub we passed back in the Ireland section.

Our next stop was Animal Kingdom. Allie was very excited about this, because she had decided that we would, by gum, see a lion. She spent much of the time growling at her brother. I am fairly certain that he no longer wanted to see lions, as his only experience involved a three-year-old putting a Cheeto-stained face three inches from him and growling.

One of the big highlights during the Animal Kingdom jaunt was going on safari, where you drive through the habitat of African animals. I made my usual recommendation when I am at zoos, which is to co-mingle the cheetahs and gazelles and get Discovery Channel Live!, but as usual my request fell on deaf ears.

We completed the day going to the Asian section of the park, which had tigers in it. And as usual, I found myself fighting every bit of my soul not to scream at some people, “YOU ARE AN ADULT! STAND BEHIND THE PEOPLE WHO ARE THREE-FEET TALL!!!” I really don’t think a three-year-old should have to jockey for position with Mark Gastineau. Allie was not disturbed by it, because she eventually got to the window the see the tiger. Parker again showed his enthusiasm by sleeping.

We soon headed back to the hotel to rest up, because we still had one more day to go and, quite frankly, I figured the good folks at Animal Kingdom would frown upon my curling up on a park bench to sleep.

On our final day at the parks, we headed to MGM. In the middle of the park is a large clearing area where, every half hour or so, gobs of Disney movie characters would make their way out, and children would line up to meet their favorite characters. Allie decided that she first wanted to meet Jasmine and Aladdin. After standing in line for about 20 minutes, a park employee began walking down the line saying, “Folks, Jasmine and Aladdin will be heading off on their magic carpets in just a minute, so you might want to look for shorter lines.” Now you may understand this, and I understood this, but a 3-year-old certainly does not understand this. So, being the kind nurturing father I am, I said to Allie, “Sweetie, Jasmine is about to leave.” She looked at me, furrowing her brow. “So let’s go buy you some candy!!!!”

“YEAH!” she said. Man, it’s great to have children at candy-bribing age.

Eventually, we timed it right so that, during a later visit, we got to meet Jasmine, as well as Snow White and Belle from “Beauty and the Beast.” Parker woke up long enough to make it clear that we should keep Beast as far away from him as possible.

We also had a raucous time at Playhouse Disney, and I trust that the person who was sitting behind me with a video camera will destroy any and all evidence of yours truly dancing around with Rolie Polie Olie.

We completed the day with the only way you should ever complete a Disney vacation: with a Mickey Mouse ice cream, smeared from one end of Allie to the other. We got several stares from people as our daughter slowly became chocolate coated. Hey, if you can’t cap off a fantastic Disney visit with sloppy chocolate ice cream treat, what’s the point in going? I mean other than to learn about Morocco.