I’ve visited with princesses and blasted off into space and fallen back down again into the briar patch this week and I just couldn’t figure out what I was forgetting.

The autograph book is near full. The souvenirs are bought and bagged. And the return trip tickets are all lined up.

We’ve been to every Disney park in Orlando.

What else is there? What more in the land of bus schedules and efficient meal plans and your vacation package with a bow on top?

Well, just one little thing I almost forgot.

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The spotlight crept closer and my daughter moved slowly to meet it and a crowd of 8,000 plus seemed to press in closer around us, waiting.

The guy with the mic and the makeup knelt down then, asked her to go ahead, and was answered by silence.

That’s when I knew this was going to go badly.

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He was alone at the front of the bus and that’s probably what caught my eye because he was about my daughter’s size and he had a “Happy Birthday” button that looked just like hers.

The name on the badge started with a ‘C’ but the rest of the black marker had come off. He was 6 today.

And he had red shorts and big glasses though they were hard to see because he was staring at the ground.

He was just sitting there on a bus about to go to an amusement park and that’s when I saw him and worried. Too young to be alone, I thought.

Then I thought, why have we been sitting here so long?

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They call themselves “cast?” Really?

When we got to the airport the transportation cast members guided us across the acres of hard tile. At the hotel the cast at the front desk was oh-so happy to help.

I imagine that guy in the lobby bathroom pushing a cart full of supplies is in the toilet cast… probably waiting for a better-smelling roll.

Disney World- home of Mickey Mouse where we’re all required to pretend this isn’t goofy. Continue reading →