My wife, son, daughter, and I
arrived in Orlando on November 15, 2011 for a
six day trip in what would be our fourth trip to
Walt Disney World in the past three years.
Needless to say, we did and still do enjoy
coming to Disney as a way to celebrate time as a
family. Up until this most recent trip, we had
had several 'magical moments' that made our
vacations memorable. During our first trip, my
children were exposed to Chef Mickey's for the
first time where they discovered that it was
perfectly appropriate, even expected, to sing,
dance, and act crazily during dinner.
During our second trip, having dressed up as the
Incredibles for the Halloween party, we helped
Mr. Incredible lead the conga line during the
Move It, Shake It Parade. We also an
entertaining encounter with Belle and Beast in
Epcot that left my daughter enchanted with the
seven-foot tall chimera. It was on our third
trip that the Disney magic actually took place
on the airplane, as we had decided to surprise
our kids with a trip.
Our trip in November began like
all the others. We arrived at our hotel and
headed straight for the Magic Kingdom. We
watched the Celebrate A Dream Come True Parade
followed by a wet ride on Splash Mountain and a
quick dinner. The next morning, our first full
day at the park, we woke up about 7am
(correction: our kids woke us up at 7am),
anticipating the excitement and energy of a day
at the Magic Kingdom. At 7:30, with some
breakfast bars and bags of dry cereal, we hopped
on the monorail with the hope that we would be
near the front of the line at rope drop.
We arrived at the turnstiles at
about 7:45. As we snacked on our breakfast, we
talked with some very amiable Disney Cast
Members who must have thought we were nuts for
arriving to the park this early. As we were
talking, my wife turned away from the
conversation to speak to someone else. A few
seconds later, she grabbed my arm and told the
kids and I to follow the Cast Member in front of
her. We had been selected as the 'Family of the
Day.'
It is important for me to say
that we did not come to the park with the
intention of being selected. In fact, outside of
reading a few forum posts about this tradition
on a couple of Disney web sites, we had little
idea what the Family of the Day actually meant.
We were taken to a bench directly outside of the
front-west entrance to the park and told to
wait. A few minutes later, the kids were given
two autograph books as well as a commemorative
letter'with our last name on the
front'indicating that we had been chosen as the
Family of the Day. We were then introduced to
Barb, another exceptional Disney Cast Member,
who told us that she would be our guide for a
private tour up and down Main St. USA.
Barb was well trained for this
tour. She told us that giving this forty minute
tour up and around the Magic Kingdom hub had
been her responsibility for more than two
decades. She drove us around in one of the Main
St. trolley cars, stopping at various spots to
get unobstructed photos in and around the hub.
Barb was fantastic! Directing us on where to
stand and how to pose, she moved us quickly from
one photo op to the next echoing the refrain:
'We got so much to do and not enough time to do
it!'
The tour culminated with a walk
up the ramp to the Main St. Train Station. By
this time, it was nearing 9 o'clock and Barb
informed us that we would be helping to open the
park. As we entered the Train Station, we were
greeted by the Main St. singers who we knew were
there to welcome visitors with the same 'Good
Morning' dance and song we had seen several
times before. But as we made our way into the
Station, we noticed that there was someone else
there as well'Snow White! While we thought at
the time that she (or some other character) was
there to greet every Family of the Day, we were
told later that she had made a surprise
appearance on this morning. What luck! My
four-year-old daughter spent about ten minutes
alone with her favorite princess. Among other
things, Snow White taught my daughter how to
talk, act, and pose like a princess and offered
to mentor my wife in how to make a gooseberry
pie.
As the Main St. singers made
their way out to begin the opening ceremony, we
were told to wait to walk out until after the
steam train ('Casey Jr.') pulled into the
station. As the train pulled in and we walked
onto the Train Station balcony, it was disarming
to be amidst all the Disney characters at one
time. Barely tall enough to see over the
railing, our kids seemed a bit overwhelmed with
the whole experience. After all, having just
finished touring an empty Magic Kingdom and now
seeing throngs of excited guests outside
the park was more than a little unusual! After
doing our best to smile and wave, we were led
back down the Train Station ramp to the trolley
car. Barb drove us and another family down Main
St. to the hub. She led us in a refrain of 'I've
Been Working on the Railroad' and wished us a
great day.
Ten minutes after we left the
trolley car, armed with a revised 'touring plan'
for the morning, we made our way to the Tea Cups
where we converged on Alice and the White Rabbit
walking to the ride. Alice asked my two kids if
they would join them for a ride! What a morning!
And what a wonderful memory to have been picked
as the Family of the Day.