Then there was the time we were almost kicked out of Disney World

Not that Disney would've been wrong


For more Disney related posts, see Althouse and Done With Mirrors. In one of the greatest essays concerning metaphors, Neal Stephenson riffs on Disney as an interface. While you download all of In the Beginning was
the Command Line, here's two quotes to make you chuckle:

It simply is the case that we are way too busy, nowadays, to comprehend everything in detail. And it's better to comprehend it dimly, through an interface, than not at all. Better for ten million Eloi to go on the Kilimanjaro Safari at Disney World than for a thousand cardiovascular surgeons and mutual fund managers to go on "real" ones in Kenya.

Sophisticated people deride Disneyesque entertainments as pat and saccharine, but, hey, if the result of that is to instill basically warm and sympathetic reflexes, at a preverbal level, into hundreds of millions of unlettered media-steepers, then how bad can it be? We killed a lobster in our kitchen last night and my daughter cried for an hour. The Japanese, who used to be just about the fiercest people on earth, have become infatuated with cuddly adorable cartoon characters.

Two years ago, princess breakfast at Cinderella's castle. For some reason The Wife has a Maleficent costume, which she wore. From the hotel room to the car, on the monorail, through the main entrance, then through the park to the castle. Staff at the restaurant loved it. The manager, a big villain fan, came out to have her picture taken with The Wife. We had some trouble getting Sleeping Beauty to stop by and visit with The Daughter. Maleficent had to promise to be good.

Afterwards, in the park, a few people stopped to take her picture and she even signed a few autographs. Each time we were clear about her just being a guest and not a real character. A couple people were confused, though most knew it before approaching us and just thought it was funny. Eventually security showed up and suggested it would be best if the costume was removed. Not a problem, it was getting hot and we were worried about kids being confused. Also, they were filming the launch of some big promotion and it was the day for filming the Christmas parade with Regis. So not much tolerance for fakes.

Everyone was very nice and we do have this picture.


And the delightful Princess Aurora: