Disney

Milo and Carrie left Florida yesterday. We had a really good time and I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures on the baby blog soon. I'm sad they are gone but it will be less than a week before I'm home.

We went to Downtown Disney yesterday before they left. We had planned on hitting Disney World but because of our schedule that didn't work out. Downtown Disney is a collection of restaurants and shops and I must admit, I don't get it. The trip started badly when we payed over $50 for two sandwiches and a kids meal at one of the restaurants. As we walked around all I saw was shop after shop after shop jam-packed with Disney crap. It's like Disney has figured out how to make buying souvenirs the actual attraction of the place. The only thing you can do in Downtown Disney besides eat is look at and buy junk. I imagine a conversation between a Disney tourist after arriving home and a friend going like this:

"Check out this Mickey Mouse shot glass and Goofy wind chime I got as a souvenir of our time at Disney."

"So what did you do while you were there?"

"Ummm ... I bought this shot glass and wind chime."

You can probably find all of the junk they sell at your local Disney store or online, there must be some attraction to buying the stuff at Disney. At lunch we noticed a man and his daughter wearing some sort of medal, on the ribbon around there necks were pins of all shapes and sizes denoting different rides and Disney characters. After leaving lunch we noticed an entire shop devoted to this; The Pin Trader. It's like this medal and pins are some sort of badge of honor proving you've survived the difficult concrete terrain, navigated the throngs of tourists, and left enough room on your credit card to finally travel home. I imagine this guy arriving at the next family get-together in Iowa, setting his green bean and tuna casserole down on the washer and dryer-turned buffet table, walking in to the living room, throwing his medal and pins down and the coffee table and proclaiming:

"Disney '08! ... Got'r done!"

Got'r done indeed.


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6 comments:

  1. KHM 8:14 AM

    You nailed it with this one, Lyman. And the rest of Orlando is not a heck of a lot better or different...

     
  2. kbmulder 10:12 AM

    Maybe it's where all the people go, who ran out of time to buy stuff at Disney World. And you know they don't want to go back in there, once they are out!

     
  3. Anonymous 1:10 PM

    Everyone loves Disney and especially Disney souveniers. They saved up for this trip for years and they are going to have the just rewards of that with their little girls in princess outfits and little boys all pirates. You too had to have a pirate hat, sword, rifle and a picture with a pirate and loved every minute of it and I loved spending all that money. Just wait until Milo is bigger you'll be wanting to take him to at least Disneyland. Corporate America gotta love it. LYFE Mom

     
  4. Lyman 10:09 PM

    Disneyland I can do since I don't have to fly there and can sleep in my own bed the same night I go.

     
  5. Lyman 8:49 PM

    I honestly think that a trip to the beach in Hawaii and a trip to Disneyworld buying up a bunch of souvenirs would be the same price. Lucky for us there are many other vacation options for the family.

    And no way would my black rubber pirate knife be crap to me now. In fact, I think I might still have it. I love that thing. I have plenty of memories of that knife but none of them are associated with the Disney. I remember playing with it at my grandma and grandpas house climbing on their tree pretending I was a pirate. Too bad we couldn't have bought that thing online back then.

    The pirate hat never fit and the rifle broke before I got it home. But there is a fun picture of my mom and I dressed up like pirates somewhere. That would definitely be worth scanning and putting up online.

     
  6. Anonymous 6:20 AM

    Later you felt that way but at the time you wanted them from Disney. You carried around the rifle all day as you couldn't even wait until we left the park to buy it. You will feel differently when the time comes. There's nothing like seeing the Disney joy on a child's face. That Mickey is all about the kid in everyone. LYFE Mom