Setting the stage:
Never been to WDW (prior to this trip). I am 43. I have three kides - two are teenagers and an 8 year old. The 8 year old came with us on this trip. We drove to WDW from Denver. Probably not the best idea to drive but I have great memories of road trips from my childhood so I wanted to 'earn' the destination and see some of America on the road for a change (instead of flying over it)
...after two and a half days of driving (actually not a bad trip - it didn't really wipe any of us out at all), and checking in at the 'jaw-dropping' Wilderness Lodge - we arrive at Magic Kingdom around 2:00pm...
#1: Train Ride: cute
#2: Thunder Canyon: 'meh' for me - but will do it again sometime
#3: Pirates of the Caribean: cute - will go back
#4: Boat Safari Trip: cute
#5: It's a Small World: retro-cute (still singing the song)
#6: Philarmagic...
...at this time I am 'meh' and 'cuted out'. The trip is for Tony (my 8 year old) who is already bouncing off the payment with sheer utter excitement at everything. I'm thinking that I will be wowed at Animal Kingdom the next day or at Epcot. Maybe I'm just tired or growing old...I don't know.
...the lights dim for Philarmagic. I am bracing myself for more cuteness but secretly looking forward to my first table meal on the meal plan...
Donald Duck starts flying out in 3D at me. Funny and technically astounding I think to myself. This is kinda neat. How do they (Disney) do this? This is kinda brilliant (I work in the very-dry tech industry and this is starting to appeal to my 'geek-factor'). A laugh squeeks out of me as I start to identify with Donald Duck and his irresistably funny predicaments.
Then I notice the sound track. This music is really good. I mean really good. And there is Donald getting messed with again. I let another out another laugh, this time louder, and deeeper. Hey - wait a minute? That laugh almost came out of my gut. That's just not right! I don't typically laugh like that. I spend a lot of time and energy putting up my dry-professional persona. It (the persona) is responsible for a lot of the success I have achieved in life (at least this is what I've tried to convince myself over the years). I can't let my wife or son see me laugh like this - they'll think I've gone 'soft'! I need to maintain my composure.
OMG did that flying carpet just shoot out of the wall like that? Wow! And there's Aladin and the Princess and Donald haphazardly trying to hang-on. And the music and visuals and the astounding technical and artistic elements that are putting this whole thing together...
...WAIT? What was that? Was that a feeling? It happened in my chest! No, it wasn't a constricting, or worrisome cramp or anything like this...I think that was a FEELING?!?! OH NO!! I CAN'T LET MY WIFE SEE ME HAVE EMOTIONS LIKE THIS...NOOOOO!!!!!
OMG it happened again. It's that dang music combined with just this brilliant artistry and technical prowess. It's making me feel something again. OMG - I think that was a feeling called 'inspiration' - I vaguelly remember having that feeling as a child and sometimes as a teenager. And what was that - was that 'joy'? NO WAY!! I've forgotten what that felt like. HOW DO I DEAL WITH THIS? It's been so dang long! Am I going to have a heartattack or something? I don't think my chest is capable of producing these types of experiences anymore. I've been so darn successful at turning off these 'annoyances' so I can focus on being a parental-male-economic-family-producing-robotic-machine. These 'silly' disturbances have no part in my overall plan!!!
Now the Peter Pan sequence. NO WISHES REALLY DO NOT COME TRUE! HARD WORK AND NOSE-TO-THE-GRINDTONE ACTIVITIES LEADS ONE TO RESULTS!!...but...but...but...this feels soooo GOOD... Can't I just wish for some dreams to come true? At least while I'm sitting in this dark theatre so my wife and son can't see the expression on my face and that small bit of moisture trying to exude itself from my eyeballs...
RESIST! - RESIST AT ALL COSTS! - NO MORE FEELINGS! THIS IS JUST NOT....
...okay this is brilliant. This Philarmagic thing is just absolutely brilliant. I used to believe that wishes could come true. And there sitting next to me, laughing, smiling, and giggling are two of the greatest wishes I've ever had. And they came true. And they trugged through a road-trip, two and half days, without a single complaint or gripe. And they go through everything with me - the ups and downs - the lean times and sometimes the not-so-lean times.
I WANT TO JUST SIT HERE AND WISH FOR DREAMS TO COME TRUE AGAIN. Plain and simple. It just feels too damn good. In fact I don't care if the wishes come true. I just want to feel like they CAN come true... AND I NEVER WANT TO THINK ANY OTHER WAY AGAIN!!!
...show ends - the lights come up. (I wipe the moisture from my eyes before my wife can see me)
"What'd ya think of that?", asks my wife.
I pause. "It was okay...", I eventually squeek out - in my dry-professional demeanor...
Another minute or two...
"Okay - no - that was brilliant! That was absolutely brilliant. That music, the comedy, the artistic expression, the technical wonder! That was absolutely brilliant! I mean - how do they do that?", I say - in a voice that I didn't think was mine.
My boy looks up at me. Who is this man? He is probably thinking to myself.
"Hey Dad?", he asks - trying to contain his excitement. "Do you want to go again?"...
I pause again... "AT LEAST 50 MORE TIMES!!!!!!"
...'meh' and 'cute' are gone. They've been officially replaced by 'wishing dreams can come true again'...
Never been to WDW (prior to this trip). I am 43. I have three kides - two are teenagers and an 8 year old. The 8 year old came with us on this trip. We drove to WDW from Denver. Probably not the best idea to drive but I have great memories of road trips from my childhood so I wanted to 'earn' the destination and see some of America on the road for a change (instead of flying over it)
...after two and a half days of driving (actually not a bad trip - it didn't really wipe any of us out at all), and checking in at the 'jaw-dropping' Wilderness Lodge - we arrive at Magic Kingdom around 2:00pm...
#1: Train Ride: cute
#2: Thunder Canyon: 'meh' for me - but will do it again sometime
#3: Pirates of the Caribean: cute - will go back
#4: Boat Safari Trip: cute
#5: It's a Small World: retro-cute (still singing the song)
#6: Philarmagic...
...at this time I am 'meh' and 'cuted out'. The trip is for Tony (my 8 year old) who is already bouncing off the payment with sheer utter excitement at everything. I'm thinking that I will be wowed at Animal Kingdom the next day or at Epcot. Maybe I'm just tired or growing old...I don't know.
...the lights dim for Philarmagic. I am bracing myself for more cuteness but secretly looking forward to my first table meal on the meal plan...
Donald Duck starts flying out in 3D at me. Funny and technically astounding I think to myself. This is kinda neat. How do they (Disney) do this? This is kinda brilliant (I work in the very-dry tech industry and this is starting to appeal to my 'geek-factor'). A laugh squeeks out of me as I start to identify with Donald Duck and his irresistably funny predicaments.
Then I notice the sound track. This music is really good. I mean really good. And there is Donald getting messed with again. I let another out another laugh, this time louder, and deeeper. Hey - wait a minute? That laugh almost came out of my gut. That's just not right! I don't typically laugh like that. I spend a lot of time and energy putting up my dry-professional persona. It (the persona) is responsible for a lot of the success I have achieved in life (at least this is what I've tried to convince myself over the years). I can't let my wife or son see me laugh like this - they'll think I've gone 'soft'! I need to maintain my composure.
OMG did that flying carpet just shoot out of the wall like that? Wow! And there's Aladin and the Princess and Donald haphazardly trying to hang-on. And the music and visuals and the astounding technical and artistic elements that are putting this whole thing together...
...WAIT? What was that? Was that a feeling? It happened in my chest! No, it wasn't a constricting, or worrisome cramp or anything like this...I think that was a FEELING?!?! OH NO!! I CAN'T LET MY WIFE SEE ME HAVE EMOTIONS LIKE THIS...NOOOOO!!!!!
OMG it happened again. It's that dang music combined with just this brilliant artistry and technical prowess. It's making me feel something again. OMG - I think that was a feeling called 'inspiration' - I vaguelly remember having that feeling as a child and sometimes as a teenager. And what was that - was that 'joy'? NO WAY!! I've forgotten what that felt like. HOW DO I DEAL WITH THIS? It's been so dang long! Am I going to have a heartattack or something? I don't think my chest is capable of producing these types of experiences anymore. I've been so darn successful at turning off these 'annoyances' so I can focus on being a parental-male-economic-family-producing-robotic-machine. These 'silly' disturbances have no part in my overall plan!!!
Now the Peter Pan sequence. NO WISHES REALLY DO NOT COME TRUE! HARD WORK AND NOSE-TO-THE-GRINDTONE ACTIVITIES LEADS ONE TO RESULTS!!...but...but...but...this feels soooo GOOD... Can't I just wish for some dreams to come true? At least while I'm sitting in this dark theatre so my wife and son can't see the expression on my face and that small bit of moisture trying to exude itself from my eyeballs...
RESIST! - RESIST AT ALL COSTS! - NO MORE FEELINGS! THIS IS JUST NOT....
...okay this is brilliant. This Philarmagic thing is just absolutely brilliant. I used to believe that wishes could come true. And there sitting next to me, laughing, smiling, and giggling are two of the greatest wishes I've ever had. And they came true. And they trugged through a road-trip, two and half days, without a single complaint or gripe. And they go through everything with me - the ups and downs - the lean times and sometimes the not-so-lean times.
I WANT TO JUST SIT HERE AND WISH FOR DREAMS TO COME TRUE AGAIN. Plain and simple. It just feels too damn good. In fact I don't care if the wishes come true. I just want to feel like they CAN come true... AND I NEVER WANT TO THINK ANY OTHER WAY AGAIN!!!
...show ends - the lights come up. (I wipe the moisture from my eyes before my wife can see me)
"What'd ya think of that?", asks my wife.
I pause. "It was okay...", I eventually squeek out - in my dry-professional demeanor...
Another minute or two...
"Okay - no - that was brilliant! That was absolutely brilliant. That music, the comedy, the artistic expression, the technical wonder! That was absolutely brilliant! I mean - how do they do that?", I say - in a voice that I didn't think was mine.
My boy looks up at me. Who is this man? He is probably thinking to myself.
"Hey Dad?", he asks - trying to contain his excitement. "Do you want to go again?"...
I pause again... "AT LEAST 50 MORE TIMES!!!!!!"
...'meh' and 'cute' are gone. They've been officially replaced by 'wishing dreams can come true again'...
I so look forward to experencing this,by your description I know the whole family(12) will love it. We will be in Oct. 
Thanks for sharing!
It really made me smile! I have never been to Philharmagic but can not wait to see it. Only 85 more days!
