For the love of the mouse

For children who are lucky enough, a visit to Disney World is an amazing experience. You find yourself in "The Happiest Place on Earth," surrounded by more stimulus than you could possibly handle.

If you're a princess lover, you have Cinderella's Castle and all the Disney heroines from your favorite films; a pirate at heart? Swashbuckler Johnny Depp is not too far away; for the thrill seekers, Space Mountain takes you on a ride in the dark...I could go on, but you get my point.

And I haven't even acknowledged all the opportunities that exist to open your wallet once you pass through the turnstiles - silly hats (see below), any stuffed animal you could dream of and treats ranging from huge (no, really huge) turkey legs to popcorn to ice cream in the shape of the park's iconic mouse.

My first trip to Disney. And my first silly hat.

I should know. I've probably eaten 5 times my weight in Mickey on a stick (ice cream), could pay for a full year of college by selling my old stuffed animals on eBay and have hats ranging from Goofy to Daisy Duck. And that's just me...I have a brother too. I have been to Disney more times than years I've been alive. Personally, I believe this puts me in the running for luckiest (twenty-something) kid on the planet. However, the best part of each visit isn't just the chance to act like the sum of my age digits but rather the chance to spend time with my family and soak up the positive energy and "happiness" that exists at Disney World.

I know what you're thinking...this is a wedding blog - why wax poetic about Mickey Mouse? Well, part of understanding me is to understand my love of Disney. Even friends who visited throughout their childhood still sometimes have difficulty understanding why we visit year after year, riding attractions where we are feet above the height requirement. So, this was clearly something that Mr. Turkey needed to deal with accept and experience in real life before going down that path towards marriage.

It was almost exactly one year into the Turkey relationship when Mr. Turkey was invited to join my family for our Thanksgiving trip to Disney. I loved him, but, this was important. A test, you might say. It was his first time to Disney since the age of 5. What if he didn't like 20something Miss Turkey acting like a 9 year-old or thought Splash Mountain was horrible? It might, as they say on 30Rock, be a "dealbreaker, ladies."

My family is so stylish - surprised my awkardness wasn't a dealbreaker for him

I exaggerate slightly and in reality, I thought the chance of him believing my family (and I) to be crazy was questionable slim, since he'd been exposed to "the Mouse" in other ways. We saw several of the newer Disney films (Up! and Wall-E) together and have various classics in our Netflix queue (Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Lady and the Tramp). And most importantly, he had seen numerous pictures (like above), heard all the stories of past trips and still agreed to come on the annual Thanksgiving trip. We were moving in the right direction.

Much to my chagrin, Disney welcomed Mr. Turkey with rain. A lot of it. I worried such an introduction would dampen the experience (ha.ha.ha.). However, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as Magic Kingdom was nearly empty (by holiday week standards). Hoods up, we trekked to Liberty Square and chose the Haunted Mansion as our first ride. As we visited the 999 happy haunts, I saw the magic sinking in, especially when the ghost joined us in our buggy. "That was really cool," he said. "What's next?"

I won't bore you with the details of every stop, but the bottom line was that despite the wet weather, we had a fabulous, magical (and incredibly productive) day, ending with a speedy trip around the World Showcase, stopping at each country for a photo op (and maybe a beer). As the days went on, he continued to get in on the fun, making requests for rides and shows he wanted to see, playing with the toys in the shops and even humoring me with this shot of us in Mickey ears. Bottom line - he got it .

The ears suit him

On Mr. Turkey's last day, I asked about his favorite thing. His answer - "Splash Mountain." No question...that's "a keeper, ladies."


Did any of your fiances have a test to pass?