CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

The year was 1987. I was all of seven years old. Having been brought up on a liberal 'diet' of Mickey Mouse and a host of Walt Disney characters, from ever since I could remember, I could hardly contain the thrill, the anticipation and the expectation when my Father told me that we were all going to 'Uncle Sam Country' for our vacation. I remember immediately piping up with the question that hung so heavily on my mind - will we get to see Disney World? My Father's expression told me all that I had wanted to know. I had heard so much about the wonderful times that my cousins overseas had had at Disney World and about getting to meet and talk to all the Disney characters in person. I, too, was getting an opportunity to do the same. My dream was about to come true!

I just couldn't wait. My impatience was getting on everyone's nerves. After all, at seven years, one could not be bothered by passport, visa and ticketing formalities. I badly wanted to meet Mickey Mouse right away! Even as we boarded the plane, my mind was overflowing with all that I would get to do at Disney World, the questions I would ask of Mickey and his pals, and a host of other things, so typically inquisitive of a seven-year old.

I could feel the Mickey magic even on the flight to Orlando where Walt Disney had constructed the 'ultimate vacation resort for everyone' - The Vacation Kingdom, popularly known as Disney World. The plane was full of over-enthusiastic kids of all ages, from a one-year old to perhaps a hundred! So universal has been the appeal of the caricature of the rodent that has enthralled the whole world since 1928. Now it will seem hard to believe that Disney, who was a struggling artist at that time, had people laughing at him when he came up with this idea in the first place! He had found it very hard to find people to invest in his idea and now this same idea had grown into a multi-billion dollar industry offering a means of livelihood to thousands of families all over the globe.

The atmosphere at the Orlando airport was simply overpowering. All the arriving passengers had the look of eager anticipation brightening up their faces while those who were departing looked crestfallen not being able to understand how their vacation had ended all too soon. Mickey caps were everywhere and the festive air was infectious.

We checked into the Contemporary Resort, the ultra-modern hotel run by Disney, with rooms commanding a breath-taking view of the bay. What made this resort unique was that the monorail taking us to Disney World passed through the hotel! The atrium inside was five storeys high with the monorail getting to stop at an elevated platform three storeys high from the restaurant and the shopping arcade below. It was an awesome sight to see the diners and the shoppers from inside the monorail as we smoothly eased out of the platform on our way to, yes, Disney World! At last!

What we were about to experience was something that none of us had even imagined in our wildest dreams. We got our tickets to enter the complex and at the turnstiles itself, where the number of visitors entering was being kept a track of, we found to our pleasant surprise that one of our group had won a prize of a battery-operated Mickey Mouse cap which had lights. We also saw two luxury cars on show which would be the bumper prizes for two lucky visitors daily! Once inside, each of us were given maps showing the layouts of the various places of interest, the paths to take to get there and the modes of transport available to take us there. We had a choice of horse-drawn carriages, cable cars, steam-engine trains and pathways and we tried out all the three modes during our stay.

A typical street in a small town of the 1920s was faithfully re-created with facades of the general store, the blacksmith's, the nickelodeon, the grocer's etc., on both sides of the street. Inside, however, we could find souvenir shops selling Mickey memorabilia, -- soft toys, dolls, books, video cassettes, caps, T-shirts etc., ice cream parlours selling distinctive choco-bars shaped like the outline of Mickey's head (with the ears made of chocolate and the face, of vanilla) , etc. This street was called 'Main Street USA'. We saw Cinderella's castle in the distance and the breathtaking layout of The Vacation Kingdom before us. Each section of attractions was appropriately named as Adventureland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland.

Each of these attractions required that we hop on to a train that would move slowly on tracks into the area and stop in front of various scenes and our guide would explain these to us. There would also be some excellently coordinated situations between our guide and some of the life-like working models of people and animals! There were roller-coaster rides set for specific themes like a runaway train, for instance, and other thrills.

Adventureland featured the Swiss Family Robinson's tree-house. There was the Jungle Cruise featuring life-like animals, like elephants and hippos, popping up from the water very close to the boat in which we travelled. There was 'The Pirates of the Caribbean' featuring some very realistic gun battles between the pirates and the townspeople ending with the explosion of a barrel of gunpowder! There was the Haunted House which showed realistic scenes of ghosts dancing together inside a room floating all over the place and this show ended with our train taking a turn where we could see ourselves in a full-length mirror, but the person seated next to us would appear as a ghost! It was eerie and it evoked laughter when each one of us looked at our sides in fright only to realize that it was only an illusion.

Fantasyland featured a submarine ride on 'The Nautilus' from 20000 Leagues Under The Sea and included a realistic Squid attack. There was the "It's a small world" - a favourite amongst the kids featuring miniature models of the children from various parts of the world singing the same theme that it is a small world and joining together harmoniously for a musical finale. India was represented by the Taj Mahal, several dancing dolls, snake charmers and the like. The entire show was breath-taking.

We would enter the place as soon as they would open and we would be one of the last to leave at closing time, totally exhausted physically but mentally euphoric. Going back to our hotel for dinner, we would have all the Disney characters come around and sit with us and let us have our photographs taken with them.

We stayed on for a full week. But, in the end, it seemed all too short. As with all other vacations this one, too, ended all too quickly and now, looking back in nostalgia, it makes me wonder, has it all been a dream?