Cook you up some ditties

Once upon a time kids meals at Walt Disney World didn’t come in a plastic mouse-eared tray. In fact, they came in boxes covered in characters and park landmarks. Inside was typical kid fare, but the box also included a toy figure. The figures were not very large, or malleable, but to a child it was a free toy.

I can remember sitting in the Farmers Market, the original food court of EPCOT Center’s Land pavilion, waiting for that box to arrive and wonder what figure I would get that I could play with at the table. There selection of figures were, to be honest, lacking. But looking back, I know not every child was able to visit Walt Disney World on a weekly basis so the figure would mean a lot more to them between visits than the vast collection of figures that ended up cluttering my dad’s tool chest. The figures would dance, under my guidance, around the table and sample some of my food.

For the past decade my father’s tools have been locked away in storage, and I have continually asked about the figures. The Mickeys finally came back into my possession recently, along with several Figment figures that were purchased at the Centorium. I had remembered the Sorcerer Mickey figure, but was pleasantly surprised by the Future World Mickeys, complete with the rainbow spacesuit.

As I move through old boxes and family collection I find not only items to showcase on the Gazette and in my collection, but memories that have long been dormant in my mind. I find old smiles of childish delight and days when the rains didn’t matter because we were waiting for Illuminations, and I fall in love with Walt Disney World all over again.