"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, The Magic Kingdom proudly presents our spectacular festival pageant of nighttime magic and imagination in thousands of sparkling lights and electro-synthe-magnetic musical sounds. The Main Street Electrical Parade!"
Now I have to admit. I didnt necessarily think wed get to see this parade. It is my absolute favorite from my childhood. I think the only thing I prefer more now is the Boo to You parade at the Halloween party. And thats probably only because its got my favorite pirate swaggering about in it. But if you asked me to pick, truthfully, Id probably pick the Main Street Electrical Parade.
Something about this particular parade reminds me of being a kid in Disney World. It brings me back to a time when my parents took me, when, in a lot of ways, life was just simpler. When instead of being the caregiver, I was taken care of. And that parade makes me feel that warm, that loved, that nostalgic. And its wonderful.
We were heading out of Tomorrowland, toward Main Street and noticed that it was about that time. I didnt even think wed be able to see it since we hadnt lined up in advance and Main Street and the hub were pretty well packed.
As we got to Main Street, it was just starting. MJS found this tiny spot under the ropes where Nemo and I could fit. Squirt was asleep in his stroller, pretty much done for the night. The cast members were directing you to either get under the rope or move it along, folks. MJS hung out with the stroller in the doorway to the candy shop, and Nana, Nemo, and I all fit under the rope. Now, let me tell you a little bit about the kindness of strangers. The woman next to me, instead of being perturbed that we were last minute participants
and let me tell you, I was super aware of not taking anyone elses space
was so kind, she offered to let Nemo stand in further up with her kids. He was too shy to do it for very long, but it was the nicest gesture, and I so appreciated it. I felt we were being smiled down upon this whole day and this was just another kindness to add to the blessings wed already received.
I know youre probably going to be disappointed, but I dont have any pictures. MJS asked me while I was watching if I wanted to take the camera out and I said no. I didnt want to watch that parade from behind a lens. I wanted to enjoy it. The sight, the sound, yes, even the people around me.
There have been times when we havent seen the parade due to weather, and times that I can remember when we caught it on the fly, just like we did that night. One of those was the first time we took my FIL, which was a huge deal since he and MJS didnt have the best relationship at one point.
I thought of all those times, and I thought of watching it with my Mom, of course. I thought about her a lot this day, this trip
I think about her now while Im writing it.
We didnt watch the whole thing as Nemo got a little antsy toward the end and really wanted to get moving. Nana had promised him shed get him a bag of cotton candy. At the time, we didnt realize they were a snack credit, so she paid for it out of pocket. Before that, wed gone over to watch them making it, and low and behold, it was my favorite purple!!!!
Do you know about purple cotton candy? Its the glorious flavor that happens when theyre changing over from pink to blue. You get a few glorious bags of purple, and its the best flavor ever. Well, we couldnt convince Nemo that he wanted purple cotton candy (he picked blue) but they were handing out samples! Of purple!!! I was even heaven. I couldnt eat a whole bag, but I sure could enjoy a sample. We got one for everyone, and it was an awesome moment.
Did I mention it was cold in there?
Anyway, cotton candy in hand, I led my family over to the hat shop.
Because we were going to buy mouse ears? No.
Because I had a little special something I wanted to do with them.
For those of you who dont know, theres an old style telephone on the wall in the hat shop near one of the doors. If you pick it up and listen to it, youll hear a party line, mostly a conversation of a girl talking to her mother.
Mom and I did this in January. I have the best pictures of us by that phone. And I decided that my family needed to do this too. It just
seemed right. Even though it was hard to do specific things I had done with her, and it gave me that ache in my chest, it was good to do them as well.
Everyone really liked it! I didnt tell them what it was, and I made Nemo go first. He thought it was funny to listen to, but tired of it pretty quickly. MJS and Nana got a kick out of it, and I listened for a bit to bring back those memories.
Having had the day that wed had, we didnt really feel the need to do anything else. Wed gotten in some of Nemos favorite rides, and wed had some really magical moments. Our vacation had started with a bang!
One can only imagine whats in store
Next Chapter
This chapter has made me really uber-nostalgic for the World. And the MK in particular. ::sigh::
It sounds wonderful...I love cotton candy, and purple is my favorite color...now I'm going to stalk the 
