PARTY OF ONE?

Well, good evening, good morning, and good day!

Yes, it has certainly been a while. Please excuse my absence from the blogosphere. I know that all 6 of you who read these have been positively lost without me! Well, relax video rangers, I'm back.

The reason for my absence was an extended trip for work. It was a good trip with a few weeks down in Florida, and then several weeks in Europe. Not too bad, if I do say so. I got to make a little cash, see some new places, and eat as much Nutella as the law would allow. And as it turns out, the law doesn't really limit Nutella intake, so I was, essentially, running on a sugar high for most of June. But, I'm back in the land of the living again, and feeling groovy.

One of the awesome new places I was able to see on this trip was Copenhagen, Denmark. It was a lovely city, and I got to explore quite a bit of it. It's an easy place to check out on foot. And, I was able to indulge one of my little passions. Which is... Disney!! Disney in Copenhagen, you say? Sounds crazy, no? Well, no. Actually it's not. Now, if you know me - and who are we kidding, if you're reading this, you probably know me - you know that I do have a passion for Disney. I even went so far as to have a bit of a Disney theme at my wedding reception.

I should pause here for a moment to make an important distinction. My husband and I are both very big Disney fans, BUT, we are not those kinds of people. Who are those kinds of people? Well, we love the history, Walt, the parks, the classic movies - all the good stuff. But, it can be a fine line between appreciating all of that, and having the 7 Dwarfs as your bridesmaids. Amirite? We are not those kinds of people. Get it? Good.

Ok, so, back on the track. In Copenhagen, I went to go see the Little Mermaid statue. And I, along with a bus load of Asian tourists all did the requisite photo op were you sit beneath the statue and look out into the distance wondering where all of your dinglehoppers have gone. That was Disney stop off number one.

The second Disney stop off was Tivoli Gardens. If you're unfamiliar, it's a lovely amusement park that's been around for, well, about 150 years or so. It's been said that Walt Disney visited here and used it as a large part of his inspiration for creating Disneyland. So, if Walt's been there and checked it out, I thought I should too. And, it was a great day. I could definitely see the similarities in the styles of the parks in certain places.

So, while I'm in Disney land here (get it?) I thought I'd share a special moment of mine that I had a few years ago. I was down in Florida for work, probably sweating profusely (cause, duh, it's Florida) and I had a weekend free. So, I decided to make my way to Orlando and get in a quicky with the Magic Kingdom. I was there on a Friday night, and they had extra magic hours (who doesn't love even MORE magic??)(Me and My Magician© certainly do) so the park was open till 2am! Well, I am a fan of getting the most bang for my buck in this world, so, if the park is open till 2am, well, I'll be leaving when you push me out the gate at 2am on the button! So, I knew I was staying for the long haul. I was by myself, which, may sound odd, but, that's something I've actually really grown to enjoy. Being at a theme park alone can be a bit lonely at times, but, for the most part - it's awesome!! You don't have to care what anyone else wants! Wanna go on the Carousel of Progress 3 times in a row? (I do) - DO IT! Wanna eat nothing but churros all day long? (I did) - DO IT! Not to mention taking full advantage of the Single Rider lines, thereby saving valuable wait time. It's an excellent way to travel.

So, I was making my way around the park with accuracy and speed. Moving like a panther. A panther wearing mouse ears. It got to around 1:30am and I had done pretty much everything I wanted to do. But, was I leaving? In the words of the late, great, Whitney Houston - Hell To The No! So, I wandered over to Adventureland, and decided to spend some time in one of my favorite attractions. The Enchanted Tiki Room! The attraction with the best theme song the Sherman Brothers ever wrote. Now, if you're unfamiliar, the Tiki Room is a large room with bench seating on all four sides once you get inside. Seats about 200 people.The ceiling and walls are filled and covered with birds, flowers and all sorts of tropical whatnot that come to life and sing and dance for approximately 15 minutes. It's 'hosted' by Jose, a Spanish bird who along with his cohorts - a German bird (Fritz), an Irish bird (Michael), and a French Bird (Pierre) (yup, that's right) show you a rollicking good time all through the magic of Audio Animatronics.

The doors were open - "Awesome!" I thought - no waiting for the next show! I can go right in! As I approached, the girls working the attraction gave me a polite smile as I happily passed them by. The full grown adult, wearing mouse ears, alone, on a Friday night, at 1:30am - headed into the Tiki Room. Ya know, it seems kind of obvious now that I probably looked odd - but, I swear, at the time... maybe I was just on a churro high, who knows.

So, I went into the room and suddenly felt very strange. I looked around..... and.... I was...... alone. Completely. Alone. I was the only one in the entire damn Tiki Room. I took a seat. (anyone I wanted) And, I waited. "Surely someone else will come along before the show starts...right?" I sat, and sat. No one came. But, the show must go on. One of the girls who had politely smiled at me now came in and gave me some full on side eye, I'm sure assuming that at some point in my life, I had made an appearance on To Catch a Predator. (Note - I hate iced tea, so that would never happen) Or, at least thinking to herself - "LOSER!" But, she put on the Disney smile, and went about the opening speech as if the entire room were full of tourists, as opposed to the reality of it being just one complete numbnut sitting in the room by herself. On a Friday night. At 1:30 in the morning. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room!" No smoking, or flash photography, no eating or drinking, please remain seated, and remember all your personal belongings when you leave, yada, yada, yada. She used the microphone. She came through loud and clear. After all, I wasn't saying anything, so, how could she not be heard??  She needed only to be slightly louder than the deafening silence. We smiled at eachother - neither one of us willing to acknowledge the worlds most awkward elephant in the room. Me.

She woke Jose from his nap - as is the standard start to the show, and out she went. Doors closed. And now... it was just me... alone. Me, the European Union of birds, and whatever security cameras they were watching me through. They had to be watching, right? I mean, I would be. I would be fascinated by me, if I were them. What had happened in my life to bring me to this dark place? Who was this sad, lonely person? In mouse ears. I mean, I get it. But, to be honest... once she was out the door - I was thrilled. I mean, this is a dream come true, right? Getting to have the park to yourself?? WHEN does that happen?? Pretty much never! I had this moment of realization that, I could do whatever the hell I wanted (while staying within the rules of the room, of course - I'm a good Catholic school girl). So I sang. I sang my little heart out. I sang that music so loud I'm sure they could hear me all the way over in Germany! (Not actual Germany, but, miniature Germany over in EPCOT). And I clapped. And I bounced in my seat. I seat danced like no one has ever seat danced before! And I smiled from mouse ear to mouse ear. It was positively glorious. My only regret was that it was over too soon. The show finished, the doors opened and I went on my merry way. Leaving only the mystery of my story behind. Back to Main Street. Then out the gates... to joyride on the monorail.

It was a perfect night.