Pap the
Disney Gamer's Highlights:
Kingdom Hearts, Disney Theme
Park Food, and Sea Salt Ice
Cream
Popcorn. Cotton
candy. Turkey legs. Citrus
Swirl. Dole Whip. Churros.
Mickey Ice Cream Bar. Candied
Apples. Rice Krispie Treats.
These are some of the iconic
snacks that can be found at the
Disney theme parks around the
world. While I do realize that I
am creeping into Reuben's Sunday
Brunch territory, there is a
reason why I am talking about
park food in a column about
gaming. These snacks have gone
from being just tasty snacks you
can buy at the parks to being
iconic and tied closely to the
theme park experience. Many a
fan have claimed that their day
at a park cannot be completed
without having one of these
wonderful snacks while watching
a parade, a show, or just
enjoying the scenery in general.
It has also been said that food
can also bring people together,
like having chat over tea or
coffee, or a whole discussion
over dinner. What I am getting
at is that these snacks can also
represent the social element of
the parks, a moment where we are
with our friends or relatives
and enjoying the serene moment
of being together over a great
snack. Today's Gamer Tuesday
article will be about how that
wonderful Disney social
experience made its way onto a
famous Disney game, and how that
element actually came from the
act of enjoying a snack at the
park!
If you are a
regular follower of this column,
then you know how many times I
have talked about the Kingdom
Hearts series, right down to
doing a year-long retrospective
about its inception and eventual
impact on the industry. I can't
help it; Kingdom Hearts is a
series that means a lot to me on
a deep, personal level. It was
the game that brought me back
into the Disney fandom in a big
way and inspired the man I am
today. There are so many themes
and concepts to the entire
series that you can easily take
one of them and analyze its
deeper meaning in the expansive
storyline. One of these examples
happens to be... ice cream. Let
me elaborate on that real
quick...
In 2006, Kingdom
Hearts II debuted on the
PlayStation 2. Everyone was
eager to get back onto the
Kingdom Hearts universe and pick
up where the first game had left
off. Everyone wanted to see Sora
and friends back and explore
creative Disney universes and do
battle with the villains and
just have great Disney fun. Much
to everyone's surprise, the game
did not start with Sora
continuing on his adventure, but
rather with a newcomer; a blonde
boy named Roxas. As the game
begins, he wakes up from cryptic
dreams that connect to Sora in a
strange way. Despite that fact,
Roxas is still a boy enjoying
the last days of summer vacation
in Twilight Town... or so we
assume.
The first
chapter of the story is a
glorified tutorial disguised as
a really long introductory
cutscene. Fans of the series are
divided when it comes to the
validity of the scene. Some say
that it detracts from the
enjoyment and delays what people
really want; Sora and friends
visiting Disney worlds. Others
say that by focusing on Roxas,
it creates a fascinating mystery
that elevates Sora's character
development to a whole new
level. Now, I won't go into
extreme detail about this
chapter of the story, primarily
because I don't want to spoil it
for anyone that has not played
the game. The joy of the game
lies in the discovery of these
plot points. However, I will say
this...

Roxas and his friends
At the end of
each of Roxas's days, he meets
with his friends at the top of a
clock tower overlooking Twilight
Town. There, he relaxes with his
friends, discusses the events in
the story, and feels right at
home. They do that while
enjoying a tasty ice cream
treat. But not just any ice
cream treat: it's sea salt ice
cream! It is their favorite
flavor of ice cream as everyone
has one Popsicle at the end of
the day. This may seem like a
random choice of ice cream,
especially since they could have
just made it the standard
chocolate or vanilla kind, and
the scene would have remained
the same regardless. However,
the seeming strangeness of sea
salt ice cream was so alluring
that it became an important icon
of the Kingdom Hearts franchise.
How did it start out? At a
Disney theme park, of course!
In an interview
with series creator and
character designer Tetsuya
Nomura, he was asked about the
significance of sea salt ice
cream in the series and how he
came up with its usage in the
story. He claims that he came up
with the idea when visiting
Tokyo DisneySea at Tokyo
Disneyland. He enjoyed the
exotic treat so much that he
decided to turn it into an
important story element in
Kingdom Hearts II. Its usage was
so effective that it defined the
character of Roxas, as well as
the series in general.

From left to right; Axel, Roxas
and Xion enjoying their ice
cream
Players would
again see the characters
enjoying sea salt ice cream in
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 days for
the Nintendo DS (and as a movie
in the recently released Kingdom
Hearts 1.5 HD Remix edition for
the PS3). The game chronicles
Roxas's backstory prior to the
events of Kingdom Hearts II. Now
he is a member of a secret cult
called Organization XIII. At the
end of each mission, Roxas meets
up with his friends and fellow
organization members, Axel and
Xion, at the top of the clock
tower overlooking Twilight Town,
enjoying sea salt ice cream.
Sensing a pattern yet?

Even Scrooge McDuck loves sea
salt ice cream
Without delving
into spoiler territory, the
significance of sea salt ice
cream is that to the characters,
it represents a crucial moment
in their lives, a moment where
they can be together and enjoy
their lives, and take a break
from the drama surrounding them.
As Kingdom Hearts fans will let
anyone know, despite its
whimsical connection to the
Disney company, it is a series
filled with a lot of dramatic
character moments, moments where
friendships are questioned,
people are betrayed, friends
lose each other, sometimes for
good, and everything is
sacrificed for the well being of
their respective worlds. In
other words, these characters
need a break from their
emotional turmoil. In Kingdom
Hearts II and 358/2 days, that
is presented through these
scenes involving sea salt ice
cream. They are not fighting
monsters, they are not carrying
orders from a malicious entity,
they are not questioning their
existence. They are relaxing,
being friends, and embracing the
quiet moments that are often so
fleeting in their lives.

The treat would make cameo
appearances in some scenes. In
this scene, Ansem the Wise is
having one for himself with his
young apprentice.
I didn't realize
what it all meant until now. I
didn't get why they only ate sea
salt ice cream. I didn't get why
people create blogs out of
Disney theme park food. I didn't
get why something so small meant
so much in the grand scheme of
things. But having been to the
two Disney theme parks in North
American, and being able to
enjoy them with very dear
friends and tasting these snacks
for myself, I can clearly see
why these things matter, and I
see why those scenes in Kingdom
Hearts II matter. Much like
Kingdom Hearts itself, the parks
trump its epic rides, stories,
characters and attractions, and
all the fun you will experience
in a day. And yet, the moments
that always stick with people
are those small moments, those
'magic happens' moments that may
be small in magnitude, but are
completely important in
someone's story. It completes
them.
Sometimes, there
is no need to lose your mind
because you want to ride an
attraction so badly. Sometimes,
there is no need to rush from
attraction to attraction so you
can claim you did a lot of stuff
in a day. Sometimes, there is no
grand desire to be at a park at
rope drop, or be the last guest
to close the park at night.
Sometimes, you don't even need
to ride any attraction at all to
make your day fulfilling.
Sometimes what you really need
is to sit down and embrace the
beauty all around you, just like
Roxas and friends did at the end
of their days. If you have best
friends to share those moments
with, even better! It may even
bring you closer to your
friends. And the perfect snack
is the cherry on top that
completes the moment.


Now, you may be
wondering, how can this treat be
tasted if a trip to Tokyo
DisneySea is not an easy
possibility? Many online sites
have dedicated themselves to
chronicling their adventures in
sea salt ice cream creation.
There are many recipes that
attempt to recreate the same
recipe as seen in the parks,
much like some people have set
out to create their own
variations of the Dole Whip
recipe. So if you are indeed
very curious as to how sea salt
ice cream tastes like, it is all
a quick Google search away.