"M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E H-A-P-P-Y B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y

by wendy lee klenetsky
(freehold, n.j.)

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E H-A-P-P-Y B- I-R-T-H-D-A-Y

It was a special Walt Disney World/ Summer vacation trip for all of us, and a 10th birthday
celebration for our younger daughter, Jamie Lynne.
Our hotel was on International Drive, an area just outside the doors of "The Magic
Kingdom". It was a lovely place, with palm trees surrounding its large oval-shaped pool.
You ALMOST felt as if you were on some tropical island. It wasn't until you left the hotel
and walked around the area with shops and buses, that you KNEW you were NOT on an island.
But it was beautiful, anyway, and our girls, Ivy Melissa (13+1/20 , Jamie Lynne, my husband,
Shelly and I really liked staying there for those wonderful five days and nights. We also
liked going to the restaurant on the corner, "THE BLACK-EYED PEA", and the wait staff got to
know us very well over that time. Good food, nice folks.
On July 5th, 1994, Jamie Lynne's actual birthday date, we went to THE GRAND FLORIDIAN,
a luxurious hotel on the Disney World property. In the dining room, on that day, there was a
"character breakfast"; a buffet breakfast during which Disney characters went from table to table,
especially making a "big deal" about the "birthday boys and girls". MINNIE MOUSE, CHIP and DALE,
PLUTO and GOOFY came to our table and, upon being told who the birthday girl was, surrounded
and kissed Jamie Lynne. She promptly turned brick-red, and sat down a bit irritated. It wasn't until
she saw OTHER kids acting silly, too (as she was told SHE was), she laughed and took it all in.
I rubbed the character standing near me, and proclaimed "I'm feeling a LITTLE GOOFYY today!"
Everybody in the restaurant heard me and laughed out loud. Then all the characters and the guests
sang "HAPPY BIRTHDAY", we finished our delicious breakfast, and left to go into the park.
The girls ran to get their places on line, and smiled when we all got our hands stamped.
This was done in the event that we had to or wanted to leave the park and return without having
to pay admission again. We paid and got our tickets for the rides and exhibits, and walked through the
gates into MAIN STREET, DISNEY WORLD.
MAIN STREET was the area favored by Ivy Melissa and me. We loved all of the character
rides and booths, and our FAVORITE ride of all was "IT'S A SMALL WORLD". In this ride, you get onto
a boat and are transported through different countries; children from these countries all sing
the "It's A Small World" song in their particular languages. It's not only a pretty looking ride, it's also
an enjoyable one.
The ride was going smoothly for the first 3 sections, and then it happened:
All of the boats got STUCK! One boat went off the track, and the others after it were stopped
where they were. WE were in one of those STUCK boats. That may seem bad enough, but that
WASN'T the entire problem: While we were stuck, the song "It's A Small World" played OVER
and OVER and OVER again. It took about one-half hour for the boats and the ride to be fixed,
and we FINALLY got to get off and go to other rides. To this day, we all joke about "It's A Small
World", and remember it with a smile.
Shelly and Jamie Lynne liked EPCOT, the scientific area of the park, best. While
we all went through all of the exhibits and rides there, Jamie Lynne and her Dad got more of
a kick out of it than did Ivy Melissa and I. What we all agreed to was that
WE ALL LOVE DISNEY WORLD!
When that day ended, the four of us rode back to our hotel area. We went for dinner
at "THE BLACK-EYED PEA" restaurant. Jamie Lynne was glad that nobody there made a fuss about
her birthday. At least, that's what she believed. The TRUTH was that, when she went to the
ladies' room, I spoke to our favorite waitress and waiter about her birthday. Then, as soon as
she returned to the table, the wait staff came around our table and sang "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" to
Jamie Lynne. Again, she had that brick-red face, and I got an "Oh MO-OMY"... But we all got to
enjoy the free birthday cake the restaurant gave us in her honor. She then FORGAVE me for
telling them, while she was scraping the whipped cream off of her face with her tongue.
Yes, that WAS a special WALT DISNEY WORLD/Summer vacation/birthday time. For ALL of us.
Oh, by the way:
Jamie Lynne is now 29 years old and was married on August 25, 2013, and Ivy Melissa
is now 32 and was married on November 10, 2013 (Yes---two weddings 11 weeks apart!)
My husband, Shelly is now 63 and I am 62; NOT 43 as we were then.
Recalling that Summer was very heart-warming for me, and it made me realize that
that slogan is true: "Time flies while you're having fun"..or "getting old"..or something....
That was one of MY happy memories..