Today I was struck by a very Disney thought – what is that one (or 2 or 3 or 4) things that make me want to yell out “NOW I’m at Disney World!” You know what I’m talking about here? It’s that song, or sound, or food, or ride, or character, or time of day, or whatever that just tells you “NOW I’m at Disney World!” Usually it is tied closely to one of your favorite things at Disney but somethings it is totally random but gives you the feeling that you’ve been there before – like dejavu (Disneyvu maybe??)
So after giving this some real thought today I came up with a list of my top 5 things (in no particular order) that makes me yell “NOW I’m at Disney World!”
1. Seeing the Disney World Welcome sign for the first time
So this always happens when I am sitting in my seat on Disney’s Magical Express bus and watching the on board video. The driver will turn the sound off and then grab his microphone. That is my cue to grab my camera and get in a good position to take a picture of the Disney World welcome sign! When I see the sign, I get chills and the biggest smile on my face and I can feel the cares of my world melt from my back and I just want to yell “NOW I’m at Disney World. Vacation begins now!! Gosh how I wish I could bottle that feeling and feel that way every day. Instead I look at my pictures over and over and tell myself, next time I’l get an even better picture of the sign I love so much!
2. The “Por Favor” Spanish Monorail Spiel
So the very first time we get on a monorail at Disney World, I slide into the seat and wait anxiously for the loud speaker to belt out “Por Favor Mantengase Alejado de las Puertas!” Ok so all it means is “Please stand clear of the door”, but to me it screams “NOW I’m in Disney World” From the very first time I rode a monorail, I was fascinated with them and the technology that runs them. Why in the world ALL transportation is not like this is beyond me. Riding the monorails brings back memories for me of either beginning my days in the parks or coming back to our rooms after a magical day in the parks. And every time I hear this spiel it jolts my brain and makes me think “NOW I’m at Disney World”. Its so popular that Disney has made several t-shirts with the spiel on it as you can see from the pictures above! This must work for others as well!
3. That Magical Disney Popcorn Smell
So if you’ve read most of my posts by now, you know I love food! So I have this vivid memory and I want to take you along with me for a quick trip back to 1991. Imagine that my wife and I were just married two days ago and we have just driven to Disney World from Indiana. We were very tired and to be totally honest with you, I didn’t really want to go to Disney World for a honeymoon. I ignorantly thought that Disney was only for extremely rich people who had thirty kids and loved spending their money on their kids while having no fun themselves. Yes as I said I was totally ignorant then. But back to the memory.
So we bought our tickets and we headed toward the Magic Kingdom by monorail. We got off the monorail and walked down the long stairway towards the entrance to the Magic Kingdom. We showed our tickets and walked through the tunnel entrance….and my life changed again forever. Even though I was 22 years younger back then, I instantly felt like a 9 year old all over again! That’s why its called The Magic Kingdom after all! So the very first smell that I can vividly remember is that of the popcorn cart just off to your left as you enter from the left. I remember just walking up to it in a fog and smelling the very warm and buttery smell of the popcorn and thinking to myself, “If this is Disney World, then I never want to leave!” That popcorn smell these days instantly makes me want to scream out “NOW I’m at Disney World!”
4. The View and Walking Down Main Street USA
There is simply a feeling that I get when I stand in the middle of Main Street USA that I cannot get anywhere else in the world. It is a feeling of freedom, of a time long gone by when everyone knew and liked each other and everyone in town felt like family. When the world was your oyster and there wasn’t anything that couldn’t be accomplished by working together. Seeing the horse drawn buggies, seeing the old time building facades, smelling the candy from the candy store, and then looking down the end of the street and seeing that majestic castle all make me want to run into the middle of the street and scream “NOW I’m at Disney World”. As a fun fact, that castle is THE most photographed free standing building in the United States. Of course it doesn’t hurt that there are plenty of Disney Cast Members there ready to take your Photopass picture for you!
5. And finally……Turkey Leg!
Just take a look at that savory, smokey, salty, juicy turkey leg. Is it saying anything to you? To me it is yelling at the top of its gobbley little lungs “NOW I’m at Disney World!”. For me, the only place I know of to get a turkey leg of this size, quality and taste is over in Frontierland at the Magic Kingdom. And I never miss the chance to get one because they are just that good. Honestly, I can make an entire meal out of one of these babies and a cheaper meal at that. Love live the turkey leg! Disney fun fact – did you know that you can actually buy a car air freshener that SMELLS just like the turkey leg!! Now you know!
Ok, so now I’ll end tonight’s post with a trivia question that the submitter was absolutely sure would stump me. This question was submitted by an actual, real life, Walt Disney World Cast Member, which of course scares the heck out of me! So here we go.
Carmen S. who works in the Mexican Pavilion at Epcot submitted the following email to me – “Dear Brad, thank you for all you do to bring a little bit of pixie dust and magic into all of your readers lives with your blog and amazing pictures. So I read that you liked Disney trivia and I asked many of my co-Cast Members if they had any really hard trivia questions I could ask you, so here is the one I picked for you – In the Pixar movie Monsters Inc., the little girl who goes by “Boo” in the movie, what is her real name?” Hmmmmmm…….
Did I finally find the question that would humble me? Have I finally been stumped by the very people I’m trying to bring joy to? Do you know the answer? Remember, no Googling! If you don’t know, ask others or take a guess to play along, then come on back tomorrow night for the answer as well as a new post that will go down well with a spoon full of sugar.
Thank you so very much for spending a little time with me, and I hope you were brought back to your magical trigger that takes you back to your “laughin place” at Disney World. I’ll see ya real soon at Disney World. I’ll be the guy holding a turkey leg in one hand, and popcorn in the other who perpetually rides the monorail all day with a smile plastered on his face!
Disney 24/7 
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