It was a few days before New Years Eve 2001 and we were eating lunch at the BoardWalks Big River Grille & Brewing Works. It was chilly out that day, so we chose to dine inside. We were seated right next to a window, and we enjoyed watching the activity on the boardwalk. A few surrey bikes drove past and the riders seemed to be really enjoying themselves. Then my husband said, Steven Tyler just drove by. My sister just about got whiplash as she jerked her head around to look out the window. At that point the surrey bike was well beyond us, so she had to take my husbands word that it was indeed Steven Tyler from Aerosmith.
I should note that my husband is a diehard Aerosmith fan, so if he said Steven Tyler had just driven by, you could take his word as gospel. What I had forgotten, however, was that my sister was also a diehard Aerosmith fan. Well, she and my husband got very excited and jabbered nonstop about their favorite Aerosmith band member, their favorite Aerosmith song, their favorite Aerosmith concert, and so on. Since we were going to be spending the afternoon in the Disney Studios theme park, I just knew that the two of them were going to purchase some CDs and such from the Rock n Roller Coaster gift shop.
After a few minutes had elapsed, we saw Steven Tyler and his party drive by again. There were a few diners seated outside the restaurant on the patio, and they had noticed the celebrity in our midst, too. It was fun seeing everyone acting star struck (none more so than my husband and sister). I am sure the topic of everyones conversation turned from What are we going to do this afternoon? to Wait until I tell the folks back home that Aerosmith was vacationing at WDW the same time as we were!
We eventually finished our lunch and went outside to catch a Friendship boat heading to Disney Studios. Once we were seated on the boat, we saw Steven Tyler and his party drive by again. This time some teenaged boys yelled, You rock! at Steven and then they shoved their fists into the air. Steven tipped his baseball cap towards them and let out that famous toothy grin. It was cute to watch the exchange between rock star and teenagers.
At this point I could see who was with Steven. There was a young boy (perhaps a son), an older girl (perhaps a daughter), and Tom Hamilton. For those of you unfamiliar with Aerosmith, Tom is a major band member who plays bass guitar (and he also writes News From the Road articles and posts them on the official Aerosmith website hes quite an articulate guy).
When our Friendship boat arrived at the Disney Studios, we made a beeline for the Rock n Roller Coaster ride. And when we exited the ride into the gift shop, my husband and sister did not disappoint me they purchased a few Aerosmith items. Its nice to know that some things remain constant in this world. Youre never too old to rock n roll. And youre never too old to spend a little money on things that you really dont need but your heart desires anyway.
Had we not seen Steven and Tom that day, you can bet that we would have exited the gift shop without purchasing a thing. In my opinion, Disney owes a commission to those two rock stars. Maybe they should hire them to hang out at WDW more often. I know a few fans that would enjoy that very much.
