The Most Magical Place on Earth

They don’t serve beer at Walt Disney World.  I repeat, they don’t serve beer (or alcohol of any kind) at WDW.  Sign me up for the mom of the year award, but I couldn’t believe it. 

Walt Disney World is supposed to be the most magical place on earth.  This may be true when you’re 5 and obsessed with Disney Princesses.  But this princess is all grown up and after spending hours waiting in line (for the parking lot tram, then the ticket kiosk, then the Ferry Boat), just trying to get into the park, I’m not drinking the kool-aid, well actually I am because that’s all they serve. 

I knew Annaliese was a little young for Disney, and our intention was just to go, check it out, ride a ride or two, meet Minnie and then leisurely stroll the park, beer in hand, and quietly judge the other park patrons.  We had thought our timing was just right… before the major spring break crowds, yet still nice and warm.  Turns out we went the first Saturday of Florida’s spring break (read busiest day of the year) and the high was a very chilly 60 degrees. The lines were so outrageous, that even the duds like the President attraction was queuing up over an hour wait.

We didn’t ride a single ride, but we did get to meet Minnie.  And, although we dropped a mint for this little 5-minute meeting, it was worth every single penny to see the look on Tiny’s face.

From the moment we got in the ‘Minnie/Daisy Meet and Greet’ line, Annaliese was hyperventilating as she chanted their names over and over, “Minnie! Daisy! Minnie! Daisy! Minnie! Daisy!”  Finally at long last it was our turn to hug, smile and grope.  Annaliese greeted Daisy with a casual “Hi Daisy” playing it cool the way I did when I happened to see Nick Lachey at First Watch.  But, with Minnie there was no restraint, she went running, arms open into Minnie’s warm embrace and stayed there until we pried her tiny, sticky fingers away.  With one last kiss on Minnie’s cool, plastic nose, she whispered “Lub You Minnie, Bye Bye.”  I melted.

With this box checked we continued our search for sanity and suds.  Another $100 bucks and a monorail or two later we found ourselves at Epcot, where the beer and wine flowed like water and the crowds merely trickled.   We dined with Italians, danced with Moroccans and sipped espresso with the French.  Now, this was magical.