5 year old said the "A" word...a pregnant, hormonal mama's saga

[javeyloveschelsi]

Our oldest decided at 5 they weren't real too. She hasn't realized the Santa you visit isn't real yet though. She doesn't care to meet Bugs, etc. at Six Flags, but I'm hoping she'll still be excited to meet characters when we make it back to Disneyland next year.

I think Santa would bother me less--means less pressure for me! Ha! I'm still pulling for at least the princesses to be real to her!

 

[javeyloveschelsi]

I have been lucky enough to know the original "Friend of Mickey" that Walt hired when opening Disneyland (Main Media character), an amazing guy away from work....

I also got to meet the voices of Mickey and Minnie multiple times, Wayne Allwine and Russi Taylor. Someone pranked me, and I came into a meeting room, and we were discussing business, when out of the blue, Mickey started talking, and then Minnie responded. talk about "What the Heck" moment..... Everyone else knew what was going on, and the laugh was on me. But WELL worth it. Got to meet them a few more times. Shame that Wayne has passed on.

But the BEST prank puled on me (Disney related) was that I was requested to head to Club 33 for a special event (I know, tough life...) and that I needed to be a "date" for one of the guests. (aka Host for an invited guest), so sure. So it was another set up, as my date was Margaret Kerry, the original Tinkerbell (the model that Walt used). So here I am at the head table sitting next to one of the most wonderful people I have ever met, we still are in contact with each other, and my wife isn't even jealous

A good SeaWorld story, the first time my wife went with me to SWSD, I arranged to get special access as a treat. Little did I know they had a character planned to give me grief, but treat my wife with love. I had to laugh when the "friend" sat down at lunch and said he got me good! Also, I got to know Mark Wenzel as a teen. (He was known as Lagniappe the Mime at New Orleans Square).

As for being on the other side, I have been Bud Man, a monster at Knott's Halloween Haunt, a St. Pauli Girl (don't ask, it was a very strange promo), a friend of the Famous Chicken, and even a friend of Woody....

But then again, how many folks can say that Snoopy was part of their wedding party.

This is quite possibly the best thing I have ever read! How amazing! Thanks for sharing!!!

 

[Darkbeer1]

This is quite possibly the best thing I have ever read! How amazing! Thanks for sharing!!!

WOW, the memory flashbacks started yesterday with dealing with a major Smartphone Manufacture and one of their advertising agencies.

I have been TRULY blessed in a very varied life.

My father and mother met in Toronto, Canada. (My dad escaped with his two brothers in World War Two from Poland. Since I shared my real last name (I do have "dba's" for my writing name), it was the Klawe Pharmacies company that got them across the border, the largest company of its type at the time. Ironically, they had nothing to really do with the company, just shared the last name and got out into "neutral" territory. Then the UN took all 3 brothers and relocated them to Canada. And they met at University of Toronto. Got married and due to the job my Father got, received Green Cards to move to the US and the international agency that hired him. So they moved in the mid 1950's to San Diego.

So I came into the world in 1960. By that time, my father was working at Fort Rosecrans in a complex of non-military scientists. But that led to a lot of things, including my father working part time for the UN (FAO), so I guess he was returning the favor of their help during WWII. His two brothers stayed in Canada, and amazingly I have a cousin that is now the President of Harvey Mudd College (I went to Claremont Men's (McKenna), a sister college long before she was hired).

My early life was strange and bizarre also, had some interesting teachers, including a well known Marine biologist, Alfred Pentis as part of a "Lazy Gifted" program run by the San Diego School
district.

Ended up graduating from Army and Navy Academy, in my class was Barry White, Jr. (And yes, Barry White in his fur coats and a few "young ladies" did show up and attend my graduation), also in my class was a true prince, a son from the Tonight Show bandleader and a few more. Later, it was the same School that O.J. Simpson Jr. attended.

Since my father worked in the fishery industry and did a lot of travelling, I got to go to a lot of places as a kid including the South Pacific, Hawaii (my summer home for years) and more.

But it also helped my Theme Park love, as many visitors would come from across the world to stay with us for a bit, and of course, they wanted to visit Disneyland, Knott's, Universal, SeaWorld, San Diego Zoo, etc. (My Dad actually brought back a couple of animals that ended up on display at the Zoo). So I got to visit the parks on a very regular basis, at one point, I think I had a stack of Disneyland A-E ride tickets a few inches thick, as the visitors left them with me after their visit. (Mostly A to C tickets).

So after college, I came back to San Diego, and started working at a couple of places (econ/accounting/computers) and one night got talked into a night at a local bar that featured Hermit Crab Racing. Ended up becoming friends with the employees and got hired to become the Hermit Crab Master and hosting the event on Monday nights, and my entertainment career started (I was the MC). The bar was across the street from the Sports Arena, so the main indoor sports and concert venue at the time. (And my uncle had a house within walking distance as a kid, and we used to walk to see the Hockey Games, I still remember the 5 cent beer night, and I was way too young to drink, just the fact the "real" action was in the stands on not on the ice....).

So we partnered up, and I basically had a VIP pass for the venue for a couple of decades. Was lucky enough to see Frank Sinatra shortly before he passed. I was in the VIP press booth that night, since it wasn't being used for broadcast, and was an amazing night. I could keep dropping names, but lets just say, I am very comfortable around celebrities, and have always treated the same as everyone else. I once got to serve Janet Jackson, since my staff got so scared when she walked in with her group. So I said OK, I would serve them, and since I treated everyone the same, Janet actually talked to me (I think she wad the 3rd person I asked, I just went down the line). Afterword, one of the staffers came up and said she was shocked, Janet never talks to servers, she has someone order for her, but since she was treated as part of the group, she had no issues with it.

I ended up working with Larry Himmel and the local TV channel KFMB with a show called "San Diego at Large", which happened to also feature Rick Rockwell, best known as the "Millionaire" from who wants to marry a Multi-Millionaire.

I also got a shock once, a friend asked me to help someone with his computer, so I went to his house, and started to do diagnostics. I had a few minutes while the program ran, and was in the living room of his house, and a row of medals caught my eye (he played Hockey for the San Diego Gulls, a minor league team), nicely lined up on a Hockey stick. So I started to check them out, things like the European Championship God Medal, and then I had in my hand, a Olympic Gold Medal. (And yes, it was a "SAY WHAT" moment, as I had no idea that this row of medals had that as part of the collection.

Later, as part of the bar and SeaWorld I got to get to know Scott Hamilton, as he was a star and running the show featured at SeaWorld (Stars on Ice), along with many other famous skaters. Even talked him into appearing on the Biff and Skippy segment of San Diego at Large TV show we filmed partly at the bar (Foggy's Notion).

Here is a generic episode, (And I used to help write this stuff, talk about getting paid to be silly and drink a few beers...)

Enough memories for right now....

Edited to add an LA Times article regarding the San Diego at Large show.

http://articles.latimes.com/1988-05-20/entertainment/ca-3898_1_large-san-diego

 

[smiths02]

You might still have a little time left. My daughter who just turned 4, was pointing out parts of the Pooh costume at 3 (when we went in June). However, she was still excited and still *kind of* believed. She also still thinks all the face characters were real.

 

[javeyloveschelsi]

Update:
Arrived yesterday to DCA and it was AWESOME! She was so excited to meet all the characters there and twirled and danced with Princess Sofia (cue heart melt), it was still completely magical. Everyone she met was totally real to her Also, it was super exciting to me that our oldest DD (who is 9 and only seemed to care about rides and food) got into meeting the characters and even participated in the toy army man show which blew my mind. She didn't have the sparkle and pure awe that the other DD had, but my mama heart is so happy. And, DS (2), was great with the characters and speechless to see Lightning McQueen, but I think the best moment was a tie between when he was having a little bit of a meltdown from being exhausted (I couldn't blame him, it had been a super long day for a little guy with a consistent home schedule), and he saw Mickey get off of the trolley to sing and he immediately stopped crying, jaw dropped, and yelled in his little two year old voice "MITTEY MOUCH!!!" Also, his reaction to the parade was awesome, pure joy