Well, the second honeymoon has come and gone, and Lisa and I learned a ton of things about each other and the world in general. The main thing I learned is that Disney World is a pretty cool place.
Lisa had been there a few times before, and loved the place, but this time, she walked away from it all with a new appreciation for Disney. We got into interesting little side things to do that really made the vacation that much more enjoyable.
First off, no matter how cheesy you think it is that there are actors there that play the Disney Princesses or that dress up as the animated characters, such as Winnie the Pooh or Mickey Mouse, its truly impressive to actually meet these characters. Their excitement and personality is truly infectious, and seeing how the children react to them is something beautiful to behold.
We were very excited to meet Belle from Beauty and the Beast, as we had a beautiful Beauty and the Beast cake topper at our wedding. In the end, we actually met her on several occasions, but the first, was something special. She seemed truly happy and honored that her and Beast were featured at our wedding, and the comments she made were truly priceless, and something Lisa and I will remember forever.On our final day at the parks, we hit a restaurant that featured Pooh and friends. I was excited to go as Lisa loves Pooh, and I love Eeyore. But what I didn’t truly expect was Lisa reaction to Piglet. The characters in the suits can’t speak, I knew this for some time, but apparently they can make kissing sounds. When Piglet was almost at our table, Lisa was almost in tears with excitement.
Its hard not to get excited when meeting a character you grew up with, or was such a part of your life or childhood. Piglet touched noses with Lisa and did the kiss noise, and in the end, that was the moment that Lisa took away from the entire vacation. Piglet kissed her on the nose. On that final day, as you’ll learn in another blog, Lisa and I were the walking wounded, we were hurt, wore out, and tired. But for that moment, Lisa was a child again, excited, bright eyed, and cherishing living a memory that she will relive again and again.One of the things we wanted to look into when we went, was Pin Collecting. In previous visits, Lisa had only dabbled, buying a pin at each park when she went. Having the experience of Sports Card trading in my youth, I had an inkling of what I was going to get into with the pins. But when it came down to it, I had no clue.
First off, you buy pins from just about anywhere in Disney World. As you walk around, you’ll notice Cast Members who have pins of their own. If you look closely, some of the pins they have have little silver Mickey emblems. Those little emblems mean those pins cannot be bought, and are circulated by the Cast Members bringing them out. There are full on sets, some of which are pretty neat.
We found out that Beast pins are extremely rare. When we found a way to try to get one, we jumped at the chance. We ended up with quite a few more pins to trade around, but Lisa got a Beast pin.
All the collecting part aside, sure that’s fun, but what we found out was, it was an amazing way to meet and talk with people that you normally wouldn’t talk with. We got into some great conversations with folks from all over the world, learned about how Disney brings in people from other countries, and got insider information about the future of some of the attractions.
Our trip to Disney World was an amazing experience, I met Chip and Dale, Eeyore, Tigger, Piglet, Pooh, Mulan(which CJ was very excited about), Belle, Snow White, Aurora(Sleeping Beauty), Ariel, Pocahontas, Mickey, Goofy, Donald, and Daisy. I wonder if I missed anyone.... We had the most amazing conversations and met the most amazing people throughout the parks. It was truly a a magical time, and the best ‘family honeymoon’ we could have possibly planned.
