I was so excited as we arrived.

Oddly enough, we saw my mother's neighbor and family leaving the Magic Kingdom as we were entering. Now, we knew we'd be down there at the same time, but never really expected to run into each other.
And that, my friends, is how people in our "real" lives have proof of just how crazy...um obsessed...I mean creative we are with our costumes.
With our guide maps (which we totally ignored) and treat bags in hand, we were ready. The cast members were all so friendly. I'd say we got to the party somewhere between 630 and 700, so they were still in the process of shepherding non party goers out and shepherding party goers in. The cast member who handed me our guide maps (it felt rude not to take them, and let's face it, they're good scrapbooking material) assured me there was nary a storm cloud on sight, and we were due for fantastic weather. As a matter of fact, she promised me it wouldn't rain. Bless her.
Boy.
There we were.
All decked out in our pirate finery, with the whole world, well at least the Magic Kingdom, as our oyster. No one to please but ourselves, nothing but time on our hands. Oh, the feeling of freedom. The headiness of it all. The absolute euphoria.
Where do we go?
We decided that pirates belong in Adventureland, so we went against the grain, and headed left. We normally head straight for Buzz (sorry ZZUB) but we were really going for the opposite of everything we'd done before. And you would think that I'd be resistant to change, I mean why fix something if it's not broken? But, it wasn't me who had little objections. More on that later.
I won't reveal trade secrets, but on our way over, DH discovered a wardrobe malfucntion. NoJanetJackson.
One of his braided goatee pieces had been sacrificed to the pavement gods. Holy Jack Sparrow, Batman!
Hmm...that reads weird, but it fits. Anyway, being a good wife / pirate / loving my DH in his costume, we backtracked to look for it. Yes, we did. Needle in a haystack. We were already in Adventureland, not quite to Aloha Isle, and we went all the way back to the hub looking for that lovely accoutrement. Now, to our defense, this isn't as crazy as it sounds. We'd worked very hard on making that authentic, down to the beads. Time, and effort my friends.
Did we find it?
No. Now I don't want to make him sound like he threw a hissy fit, because he didn't. My DH is not a hissy fit kind of guy, in case you couldn't tell that. He's more the silent, sulky kind. Equally as frustrating. However, I had my soothing wife skills out in droves. But not like that! We were in public! Sheesh!
Anyway, I convinced him he might as well remove the other remaining goatee piece, and call it a loss. And that he still looked amazing, and so much like him that it didn't matter if he had those little braids attached. Because let me tell you, once the man puts the eyeliner on...wow.

And he sort of acquiesced. In the sense that it was the beginning of the party, there was much to do, and he wasn't going to let it ruin his fun. But let me tell you...we are still on a quest for how to make the perfect Jack Sparrow goatee. And I'm sure my DH will do ALL sorts of research on it before next year.
Because we're...um....cool like that. Yeah.
Now, as we headed back into Adventureland, the character line was noticeably shorter than the first time we passed it, and so we decided to take advantage. And pray for the best. Because although DS had done so well at Chef Mickey's, I wasn't taking anything for granted.
Fortunately, part of DS' costume was some pirate trinkets I'd picked up from the Dollar Tree before we left, which I presented to him in the hotel room before the party. It included a little pirate chest, and some coins, which he loved. They were his treasure! They were invaluable.
We also knew that DS would fade fast, and so we asked him if he'd like to see some characters, and then get some candy.
Yes, I said it. C-A-N-D-Y. The five letter word we'd so been avoiding. Well, tonight, we weren't avoiding it. We're not that mean. It was Halloween! We were embracing the trick or treating. I mean, what's the point, if you're not going to let the kid (and us) have a little fun, right?
DS agreed, and it was on!
First, we met Rafiki, who was so kind as to really inspect DS' pirate treasure, and take great note of it. I took a picture with Rafiki first though, just to show DS it was okay. Then, as we were making our way to Baloo, a changing of the guard occured, and we got to meet King Louie instead. DS was doing so well, and the characters were all sooooo nice about looking at his pirate treasure.
I guess the key to him feeling comfortable with the whole thing was having something to show them, or something to talk about, otherwise, he felt like he was at a loss. I'm sure that in their experience, they've seen a variety of personalities in kids, and they were totally equipped to handle it. And not only handle it, but make it fun. It was these kind of moments, where these characters were not just humoring, but really enjoying what my son was doing that made me feel that Disney magic. Where he wasn't just one more kid in the line, he was something special.
DS was doing so well, treat bag close at hand for whenever we did make it to that elusive promised candy. And as we moved down to the final character, I knew I had some Disney Halloween magic on my side, because instead of Terk and Jane, we got a changing of the guard and got to meet Terk and TARZAN!!!!
Let me explain a little something. Tarzan came out in theaters during a particularly difficult summer for me. I was doing an internship at a local art museum, and discovering a lot about the way the world worked, as opposed to my idealistic views of how I thought it should be. The segregation between the various levels of employees, the bureaucracy...it was a rude awakening to a young painting student in college.
And Tarzan was amazing. It was my salvation. During that summer, I saw it in the theater ten times. Even took one of my favorite college professors, and his wife to see it, and he loved it. He's a story for another time altogether, a very, very amazing man.
Anyway, I have a deep and abiding love for Tarzan. As do I for Jack Sparrow. I often wonder if it has something to do with men with dreads.
Anyway, let's come back to the moment, shall we?
The changing of the guard occurred, and we were getting ready to meet Tarzan.
I was in heaven. And Tarzan was AMAZING!
Ah-may-ZING!
And you may think that I'm referring to some musculature or something, but it wasn't that at all. He was talkative, and inquisitive, and had that perfect Tarzan voice. He asked about my necklace, and I told him it was cursed.
"Tarzan does not know what means cursed."
No joke. I melted when he spoke like that. Way to a woman's heart through intellectual conversation folks? Oh no. Not at all.
I then explained it was pirate treasure, and Tarzan had heard of pirates. And then he saw DH, and said look, there's a pirate. And another one, as he looked at DS. Now DS was a bit nervous, because this was, after all, a face character.
But Tarzan got down in his famous crouch, right on DS level and talked to him about his pirate treasure, that little box of coins I mentioned earlier.
Tarzan was so great with him, and it started off our night so well. In that short moment, Tarzan became something larger than what I thought of him.
He became a new favorite of my son's.
Oh, I could cry right now just talking about that full circle moment. How something that meant so much to me now was so wonderful for my son.
Give me a minute, okay...
Phew.
Of course, there was candy at the end of the character greeting area, which totally fufilled our promise to DS, and made him a very, very happy little pirate.
Up next - The One Character DS Specifically Asked to Meet